Bayern vs. Real Madrid: The facts on semi-final 1st leg | OneFootball

It's an absolute classic in European club football. FC Bayern host Real Madrid on Tuesday night (21:00 CEST) in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals. It's also a battle of the two clubs with the most appearances at this stage of the competition - it's FCB's 13th time, and Real's 17th. The evidence that Bayern will put themselves in a good position for the return leg at the Bernabéu (8 May), as well as all other facts on the match, are here.

Most-played UCL fixture

Bayern versus Real Madrid has a great history. The clubs have faced off 26 times previously in the Champions League or European Cup, making it the most-played match in the history of Europe's premier club competition. Twenty of those have come in the knockout rounds - also a record.

Even head-to-head

In their last clash with Real Madrid at the Allianz Arena, FC Bayern were beaten 2-1 in the first leg of the 2017/18 UCL semi-final. That should change on Tuesday!

The Reds have a slight lead in the overall head-to-head record between the two European heavyweights. The German record champions have won 12 of the 26 meetings to date, Real 11 and there have been three draws.

Semi-final classic

This is the eighth time that Bayern and Real meet in the final four of the Champions League. Having come out on top in four of the five semi-final encounters between 1976 and 2012, FCB have been knocked out by the Madrid outfit in the last two (2014 and 2018).

Fortress Allianz Arena

Bayern have only lost one of their last 24 home matches in the Champions League, and are unbeaten in 15 (W12 D3). What's more, the Munich men have failed to score in just one of their last 29 UCL home games at the Allianz Arena (the 0-0 draw against Copenhagen in this season's group stage).

FCB booked their place in the semi-finals with a 1-0 win at home to Arsenal in the last round.

Top scorers do battle

This is also a clash between the two players with the most goal involvements in this season's Champions League in Harry Kane (10 - 7 goals, 3 assists) and his England teammate Jude Bellingham (8 - 4 goals, 4 assists). FCB frontman Kane is also on the verge of a record: if he registers another goal contribution against Los Blancos, he would set a new best figure for an English player in a single UCL campaign (10 for David Beckham in 1998/99 and Steven Gerrard in 2007/08).

Müller set for milestone

Having not featured in the quarter-final against Arsenal, Thomas Müller is still waiting for his 150th appearance in Europe's premier club competition. He would become only the third player to reach this mark for one club after Iker Casillas (150 for Real Madrid) and Xavi (151 for Barcelona).

We've examined the opponents more closely:

Real Madrid: Profiling Bayern’s semi-final opponents