Feuding foes Bayern and Real meet again
Reuters - Monday 16 April 2012, 02:00
From Juanito stamping on Lothar
Matthaus' head to an entire team storming off the pitch in a
friendly, there is no love lost between Bayern Munich and Real
Madrid, who resume their bitter rivalry on Tuesday.
The luck of the draw has ensured a five-year truce between
the two swaggering giants, who have been European champions 13
times between them.
But the peace will be shattered when they clash at the
Allianz Arena in their Champions League semi-final first leg.
It will their fifth semi-final meeting in Europe's top club
competition and offers Real Madrid, well on course to win La
Liga, the chance to bring Bayern's season to a miserable
conclusion.
The Bavarians have already seen their Bundesliga title
challenge fizzle out and are now playing to keep alive their
dream of playing the Champions League final in their own
stadium.
There is an endless list of ingredients to spice up an
encounter whose history of violence, slanging matches and red
cards would not be out of place in South America.
Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes and forward Arjen Robben both
have scores to settle, having left the Bernabeu through the back
door after their spells at Real.
Heynckes was the coach who ended Real's 32-year wait for
their sixth European Cup title in 1997/98 yet despite this was
removed.
Dutchman Robben was booted out after being told he was not
wanted by club president Florentino Perez.
The pre-match comments have been the usual banal fare with
players and officials offering respect for the opposition and
playing down rivalries.
"There are a lot of elements to take into consideration and
the first of those is Bayern's history," said Real director
Emilio Butragueno.
"They are a club with great pride and they know this is
probably their last chance to end the season on a high, not to
mention the fact that the final is at their stadium.
"As professionals and as a team they will want to prove
their mettle and they will try their hardest against Real
Madrid."
Yet Butragueno is all too aware of the bitterness between
the two clubs, having played for Real during the 1980s.
REFEREE ATTACKED
The first meeting between the two sides, in the 1975/76
semi-finals, set the tone.
Real's Roberto Martinez broke his nose in a collision with
Bayern goalkeeper Sepp Maier and a fan known as "El Loco del
Bernabeu" (The Bernabeu madman) ran onto the pitch and attacked
the referee and Bayern striker Gerd Muller.
Bayern went on to the win the competition for the third year
in a row.
Their next competitive meeting, another semi-final 11 years
later when Bayern again won, brought the infamous incident where
Juanito stamped on the back and then the head of Matthaus while
a team-mate kicked the German playmaker's thigh.
Juanito, who died in a car crash in 1992 at the age of 37,
was given a five-year European ban.
Even when the matches were supposedly friendly, there was
trouble.
In 1981, Bayern's entire team stormed off the pitch during a
match in Real's pre-season Santiago Bernabeu trophy tournament
after they had a player sent off for making obscene gestures to
fans.
It got little better during Real's so-called Galacticos era
when Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn became public enemy number
one among Real fans, while the Spaniards were seen in Bavaria as
showboaters.
Before a first knockout round meeting in 2004, Bayern's
Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro said: "We're going to score
five goals against those clowns."
It brought a predictably furious reaction from Spain but
Real had the last laugh, winning 2-1 on aggregate.
There was none of the trash talk from Bayern's Bastian
Schweinsteiger following Saturday's 0-0 draw against Mainz 05.
"It's all or nothing on Tuesday," he said, aware that Bayern
have won eight and drawn one of nine home meetings against Real.
"We have to go to the limit and beyond, but we can do it
with our fans behind us. It won't be easy and it comes down to
mental strength. I hope we show the mentality which marks Bayern
out."
Probable teams:
Bayern Munich: 1-Manuel Neuer; 21-Philipp Lahm, 17-Jerome
Boateng, 28-Holger Badstuber, 27-David Alaba; 31-Bastian
Schweinsteiger, 30-Luiz Gustavo; 10-Arjen Robben, 25-Thomas
Muller, 7-Franck Ribery; 33-Mario Gomez
Real Madrid: 1-Iker Casillas; 17-Alvaro Arbeloa, 4-Sergio
Ramos, 3-Pepe, 12-Marcelo; 14-Xabi Alonso, 6-Sami Khedira;
22-Angel di Maria, 10-Mesut Ozil, 7-Cristiano Ronaldo; 9-Karim
Benzema
Referee: Howard Webb (England)