Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp is backing Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich to overturn their 1-0 deficit at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night. And I would have to agree with him.
Pep Guardiola’s men trail 1-0 from the first leg at the Bernabeu, thanks to a Karim Benzema goal but Klopp believes Bayern at home will be a different prospect.
Bayern have only lost twice at home in the league this season, a 1-0 defeat to Augsburg and a 3-0 beating at the hands of rivals Dortmund, but both were after the Bundesliga title was wrapped up.
Real Madrid’s last visit to Germany nearly saw them knocked out of the competition at the quarter-final stage, having beaten Dortmund 3-0 in Madrid and then losing 2-0 at the Westfalenstadion.
Gareth Bale has travelled and is in the squad for the game. Pep Guardiola will have to contemplate the idea of facing BBC (Benzema, Bale, Cristiano) from the start.
If Bale is fit to start you will see Isco drop to the bench and Angel Di Maria will slot into the midfield trio of himself, Xabi Alonso and Luka Modric.
Guardiola will be looking for a more ruthless performance from his side, and that could see Mario Gotze brought into the starting 11.
If there is no change in performance, Guardiola is not one to sit and wait. He will go for it, moving Lahm into midfield and bringing on Rafinha.
The question is however, can Real Madrid be defensively perfect once again and how will they do against an angry and in-form Bayern.