One of the biggest games of this year’s Champions League will see two European giants, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, face off in the quarter-final.
Both teams go into the first leg at the Allianz Arena, full of confidence with the two clubs leading in their respective leagues. Madrid defeated Italian club Napoli, 6-3 on aggregate in the Round of 16 match, while Bayern humiliated Arsenal in both legs, winning 10-2 on aggregate.
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Ahead of the quarter-final duel between these two sides, we look at a combined XI of players from both teams:
Goalkeeper
Manuel Neuer
There can really be only one choice in any combined XI in world football, currently. Manuel Neuer is still considered one of the best in the business and is a far better choice over his counterpart in the Real Madrid goal, Keylor Navas.
Bayern fans would have been anxious and worried at the news of the German No. 1’s injury, but Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti confirmed that Neuer will be in goal and allayed any fears of his injury.
The German goalkeeper is supremely important to his side with his commanding presence in the Bayern goal and supreme reflexes. In his seven appearances in the Champions League this season, Neuer has kept two clean sheets and has conceded only five goals in this Champions League campaign.
Defence
Philipp Lahm
The German right-back has been in excellent form in his swansong season and will hope to leave on a high by winning the Champions League. Lahm has featured in five games in the Champions League this season, and has been brilliant in attack and defence.
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The Bayern Munich captain has an incredible average passing accuracy of 92%, a stat which will put the best central midfielders to shame. He will have an important role to play in containing Cristiano Ronaldo and the marauding runs from left-back of Marcelo.
Sergio Ramos
Ramos has had another superb season for Real Madrid at the heart of the Los Blancos’ defence as well as scoring important goals late in the game. The central defender has scored 10 goals in all competitions this season, which is one goal more than Gareth Bale, and highlights the huge threat the Spaniard will be while attacking set-pieces against Bayern Munich.
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The Real Madrid captain will be crucial in containing the free-scoring Robert Lewandowski and will want to help his team become the first football club to defend the Champions League.
Jerome Boateng
Jerome Boateng, over the years, has cemented his reputation as one of the best centre-backs in the world, and he, like his fellow Bayern Munich defenders, has had a solid season in defence.
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Boateng has played four games in the Champions League this season and has mostly partnered fellow German defender, Mats Hummels, but that won’t be the case against Los Blancos as the latter has been ruled out of the game because of an injury.
The onus will be on Boateng to keep the free-flowing football of Madrid at bay.
Marcelo
The 28-year-old left-back’s game hasn’t changed much since he joined Madrid, and he is still the adventurous, attacking full-back that he was in his youth. The Brazilian is one of the senior-most players in the Los Blancos squad and will have an important role in keeping quiet Arjen Robben on the left flank.
Marcelo has created six chances in his six games in the Champions League campaign and has also been defensively solid, making an average of three tackles per game.
Midfield
Arturo Vidal
The engine room of the Bayern Munich midfield, Vidal is a player with oodles of energy and drive offensively and defensively. The Chilean midfielder has become a very important player for the German giants, marshalling the midfield with tenacity and creativity.
Vidal has been defensively solid, making an average of 4.5 tackles per game in the Champions League this season, and also contributing to the goal tally, having scored two in Europe and created five chances.
Thiago Alcantara
Another player who has become an important player in the Bayern Munich side and who has been key to their dominance in Bundesliga and the Champions League, Thiago has been the creative spark in the German club’s midfield.
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Deployed behind the striker, in midfield or in a deeper lying role, the Spanish international has proven to be very versatile, creating and scoring goals, as well as providing defensive cover. The midfielder has scored two and assisted two in this year’s Champions League, and has created a whopping 14 chances in his seven games in the competition.
Toni Kroos
Kroos’s job in the Real Madrid midfield is to keep the ball moving and in possession, and also put forward passes to catch the opposition defence off guard. The German midfielder has been in imperious form this season having racked up 12 assists in all competitions for Los Blancos.
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One of the key traits of Kroos’s game is his ability to not give away the ball which is evident in his average pass accuracy of 91%. The German is not one to pass only sideways and has created 18 chances in the Champions League this year.
Attacking Midfield
Arjen Robben
The Dutch winger doesn’t seem to be slowing down with age and is still performing at the highest level against the best in the world. The 33-year-old scored a worldie in Bayern Munich’s rout of Arsenal in the first leg at the Allianz Arena, which brought his goal tally to three goals in the Champions League this season.
In Robben's six appearances in the Champions League, he has created 12 chances for Bayern. The Dutchman will look to get one over his former team, and the Real Madrid backline will be wary of his wand of a left foot.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo has had a decent season by his lofty standards, having scored ‘just’ 26 goals this campaign. The Portuguese winger has scored two in the current Champions League season and created 14 chances. If Real Madrid have any chance of winning at the Allianz Arena, they need their talisman to be at his best.
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The former Manchester United player has shown that he still has a lot to offer when several critics had written him off at the start of the season. Ronaldo will be up against a wily customer in Philipp Lahm, and the Portuguese ace will also help his team out defensively against an attack-minded Bayern Munich team.
Attack
Robert Lewandowski
The Polish striker has once again shown this season that he is one of the best and most feared strikers in the world with another goal-rich season. Lewandowski has scored 38 goals this season in all competitions and doesn’t look like he will be slowing down anytime season.
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The latest team to bear the brunt of the lethal striker’s boots was his former club Borussia Dortmund, who fell to a well-taken brace from the Polish forward in a convincing 4-1 win over the weekend. Lewandowski was forced off the pitch after he sustained an injury and there were fears that he would miss the big clash against Real Madrid, but reports have emerged that he may just about make it for the game.
