Madrid vs Bayern: An Eighth European Classic
Real Madrid secured their first-ever victory at the Etihad Stadium on their sixth visit, ensuring their thirty-third semifinal appearance in 69 editions of the European Cup, and the seventeenth in 32 since the format changed to the Champions League. They will face Bayern Munich for the eighth time in the last round before the final, with the German side holding a favorable record, having emerged victorious on four occasions.
Six years later, the most repeated semifinal in the Champions League is happening again. Real Madrid dominates recent history, with a streak of six wins and one draw in their last encounters.
In the seven semifinals between Real Madrid and Bayern, which was the Madrid team's nemesis until 2000, the Spanish side won the last two. They notably exhibited dominance against the team managed by Pep Guardiola, with 1-0 and 0-4 victories at the Allianz Arena in 2014, where they also won in their last visit, 1-2 in 2018, before advancing in the tie with a 2-2 draw in the last match played.
The head-to-head history of the most contested encounter in the Champions League (26) shows maximum equality, with twelve victories for Real Madrid, eleven for Bayern, and three draws. In the last tie, they celebrated their "silver jubilee" in a duel that began on March 31, 1976, in the semifinal of the 1975/76 European Cup at the Santiago Bernabéu, and the two giants have faced each other in twenty-four matches.
The balance, which was initially quite favorable to the Bavarian side, has been equalized by Real Madrid in the last two decades. They won in their last three visits to Munich, in a stadium where they lost in their first seven visits and didn't win until the eleventh, in the semifinals of the 2013/14 edition with a 0-4 exhibition, featuring brace goals from Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Bayern was defeated by Real Madrid on their way to conquering the eighth, ninth, tenth, and twelfth Champions League titles.