Enjoy Real Madrid vs. Bayern

Arjen Robben

hampions League: Real Madrid vs. Bayern, Chelsea vs. Atletico. Champions League semifinal matches take place between Apr. 22-30

Bayern's Arjen Robben will try and lead the club to a third straight appearance in the Champions League final, and a repeat victory.

In a stellar pairing of clubs who won Europe's top title 14 times, Real Madrid will play Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinals.

Atletico Madrid and Chelsea were matched in the other semifinal as UEFA threatened the English club with sanctions if it tried to enforce a pay-to-play clause written in the contract for loaning goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to its Spanish opponent since 2011.

On the field, the city of Madrid will host the first two matches on April 22 and 23, as Atletico first hosts Chelsea at the Vicente Calderon Stadium one night before Madrid welcomes defending champion Bayern to the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

"We are the teams who are playing the most attractive football right now," former Bayern and Real Madrid great Paul Breitner said.

Nine-time champion Madrid and five-time winner Bayern have also been runner-up a further eight times, yet never met in the final.

Bayern is looking to become the first team in 24 years to repeat as Europe's top club after cruising to the German league title.
Can't wait. Too bad that Ibrahimovich missed almost all of the quarter final because with him PSG are right up there with Bayern and Madrid as the best clubs in Europe. Instead we are stuck with a middling Chelsea who barely beat PSG even though Zlatan was missing.

Undeniably Real and Bayern are the two top teams here, by a large margin. The real championship contest will be between them in the semis.

Arjen Robben

It's nice to see Atletico in the final four - a bit of a change from the usual Barca / Man Utd / AC Milans that would usually be there instead of them. They're not a true underdog, but at least they're a bit of a fresh face.Atletico-Chelsea is probably the worst draw for Chelsea. Chelsea and Jose's teams thrive in an underdog/siege mentality situation, and have had success frustrating teams by defending deep.But Atletico can't be called favourites here, and their strategy has been about patience and intense defensive play. Can't see them getting flustered. Also, I don't think Jose's mind games will work with Diego like they have with a lot of other managers.This is a really tasty match-up - I can't wait to see how Jose and Diego's tactics play out.Fantastic draw, great field of semifinalists, there's a team for all kinds to root for: Bayern trying to build a dynasty, Real desperately trying for "la decima" (the tenth title), Chelsea looking to apply the "Mourinho Factor" and Atletico as the "dark horse" candidate returning to European semifinal for the first time in four decades.For the first time in years I think it's impossible to predict the matchup for the final, though the one I'm hoping for would be Real-Chelsea.