Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid: Combined XI

Midfield

There’s massive quality in the midfield of both the squads and leaving someone out in favour of someone else is certain to spark a debate with ample points to defend for and go against the topic. The teams also consist of players who have actually turned out for both clubs in the last decade. With that said, let’s start to select the 3-man combined midfield.

Casemiro has been a mainstay under Zinedine Zidane

First up is Real Madrid’s defensive midfielder Casemiro, who has been one of the best players in the position ever since he returned from that impressive loan spell at Porto in the 2014-15 season.

Under Zinedine Zidane, he would go on to become a regular feature in the team, and at 26 years of age, he is looking to win his 4th Champions League winners’ medal. He is a strong tackler of the ball and helps the side get possession back with his interception skills.

If that was not enough, he manages to score some wonderful goals too – he has scored 7 goals so far this season across all competitions.

Toni Kroos has played for both Bayern Munich and Real Madrid

With defensive duties allocated to Casemiro, the next midfielder in this lineup, who is also playing for Los Blancos, is Toni Kroos. It’s still baffling how Bayern Munich allowed a player of such quality to go for a considerably small transfer fee.

Kroos would have no complaints however, as the World Cup winner followed his trophy-laden German domestic career, which included a treble, with a similar one at Real Madrid. Expectedly, he has enjoyed a strong season as well, and with Kroos having played for both clubs in real life, it’s only fitting to include him in this lineup as well.

James Rodríguez is in great form right now and would be looking to make a statement in this fixture

The third midfielder in this lineup was so nearly going to be a Real Madrid player, but alas, it isn’t.

It was really difficult to leave Luka Modric out – it’s hard to see a more balanced group of midfielders who provide everything that’s needed to win that crucial battle in the centre of the midfield, and who have actually earned trophies and accolades at the European competition level.

But come this Wednesday, all eyes would be on current on-loan Bayern Munich player James Rodríguez. James looked for a more continuous run of fixtures at the start of the season but wasn’t able to, even though it was highly expected that he would get more game-time under Carlo Ancelotti, the manager who actually brought him to Real Madrid in the first place.

However, soon after Jupp Heynckes took over, he started gaining confidence and he is in hot form right now. If he sustains this form for some more time, it would be same for him to assume that Bayern would invoke the clause that would make him a permanent player of the team.

This game is the right opportunity for him to prove what Real Madrid are missing out on with Los Blancos having allowed him to go out on loan.