Madrid wary of 'bestia negra' Bayern in 'European Clasico'
Real Madrid have their sights set on a Liga and Champions League double, but to lift the latter they must find a way past Bayern Munich, their "bestia negra" – "black beast".
Carlo Ancelotti's side travel to Bavaria for the semifinal first-leg clash on Tuesday, in a fixture dubbed the 'European Clasico', the most repeated in the competition's history.
Despite Madrid's forbidding nickname for Bayern, they have shaded the Bundesliga side across their 26 encounters, with 12 wins to Bayern's 11.
In the last decade, Madrid clearly have the edge on the German giants.
The record 14-time winners knocked out Bayern in each of their three most recent tangles, in the semifinals in 2014 and 2018, and the quarterfinals in 2017.
Real went on to win the Champions League every time. Ancelotti was on the receiving end in 2017, when Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick knocked his Bayern side out in extra time at the Santiago Bernabeu.
A few months later, Bayern sacked the Italian, with Madrid's return to the Allianz Arena a chance for the competition's most decorated coach to prove a point to his former employers.
With Bayern losing their grip on the Bundesliga title to upstarts Bayer Leverkusen this season, the relative quality of Ancelotti's all-too-brief era is missed.
Back then, Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso was a key part of Bayern's spine – how times change.
Ancelotti argued the refereeing was bad on that night, with Bayern midfielder Arturo Vidal harshly dismissed, and one of Ronaldo's goals offside.
It was another example of Madrid somehow finding a way to win in Europe from tricky situations.
Bayern, six-time Champions League winners, have only lifted the trophy once since their 2013 triumph over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.
By contrast, Los
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