Bayern’s visits to Real Madrid in European Clásico

Bayern will travel to the legendary Estadio Santiago Bernabéu once again on 7 April for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie with Real Madrid. The stadium has been the site of some of the greatest clashes in European football between the Munich and Madrid giants.

31 March 1976: Real Madrid 1-1 Bayern – European Cup semi-final

One of the most important goals in Bayern’s history was in fact not captured on film. After Madrid’s Roberto Martínez missed a chance to score in the 43rd minute, the camera was still focused on his despair as Munich launched a counter-attack and Gerd Müller slotted home a cross from Franz ‘Bulle’ Roth. It levelled the score at 1-1 and broke the spirit of the previously dominant hosts. Bayern had won the European Cup in the previous two years; nothing could rattle them. After the final whistle, a Madrid fan knocked Müller to the ground with a punch. He didn’t complain but got his own back in the return leg with a brace to secure a 2-0 victory. Bayern went on to lift the trophy for the third time in a row.

22 April 1987: Real Madrid 1-0 Bayern – European Cup semi-final

It felt like nothing could go wrong. But what does that really mean when you’re up against Real Madrid, in front of 100,000 spectators? Bayern had won the first leg of their semi-final tie 4-1 at the Olympic Stadium, after Madrid’s Juanito was shown a red card in the first half for one of the most brutal fouls in football history, kicking Lothar Matthäus in the head. In the return leg, the Reds faced a relentless onslaught from Los Blancos. Klaus Augenthaler scored an own goal, was sent off in the 30th minute and despaired in the dressing room. “I took a few showers, had a smoke,” he revealed afterwards. With a man advantage, Real only needed to score two more goals, and the chances were there. But Jean-Marie Pfaff played the game of his life in goal. Bayern progressed to the final against Porto, which they unfortunately lost. And in the Spanish press, a new name for Bayern took hold: La Bestia Negra.

1 May 2001: Real Madrid 0-1 Bayern – Champions League semi-final

Rarely have Bayern swept through Europe with such conviction as they did in the spring of 2001. The team had not been broken by their crushing defeat in the 1999 Champions League final. They had grown from it, continually perfecting their disciplined, controlled style of play. Madrid had the better individual players, dominated possession, but didn’t stand a chance. At the back, Oliver Kahn was unbeatable. Up front, a lone striker in Giovane Élber lay in wait. The Munich defence sent a Madrid clearance straight back into Real’s half in the 55th minute. From 25 metres out, Élber turned and fired off a shot that flew into the net. Later, Élber said he hadn’t even known exactly where the goal was. Bayern simply had blind faith in themselves. They went on to win the second leg 2-1 and then lifted the trophy with victory over Valencia.

25 April 2012: Real Madrid 2-1 Bayern (Bayern won on pens) – Champions League semi-final

There was one time Bayern even managed to make the great José Mourinho feel small. The ‘Special One’ watched the final moments of one of the most thrilling European matches of all time on his knees. Bayern had won the first leg in Munich 2-1. In the second leg, however, they found themselves two goals down after just 15 minutes. There was the potential for a disaster. The team fought their way back with a penalty converted by Arjen Robben and took the tie into extra-time and then a penalty shootout. There, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká and Sergio Ramos missed their spot-kicks. But the Munich side’s nerves were also on edge. Bastian Schweinsteiger, returning from a long injury lay-off, stepped up as the last taker. Exhausted, he could barely make it to the spot but converted confidently. Bayern were through to the Finale dahoam. And Mourinho went into the Bayern dressing room to congratulate every player individually.

1 May 2018: Real Madrid 2-2 Bayern – Champions League semi-final

For the fifth time in five years, Bayern faced a Spanish side in the Champions League knockout stages. In each of the four previous years, they had been eliminated. And now? Bayern had lost the first leg against Real 2-1 at the Allianz Arena, with a great deal of bad luck. In the return leg at the Bernabéu, half the usual first-team line-up was missing – Manuel Neuer, Jérôme Boateng, Arturo Vidal, Arjen Robben, Kingsley Coman. The Bavarians scored an early goal through Joshua Kimmich and played more dominantly than ever before at the Bernabéu. But Karim Benzema struck twice, both seemingly out of nowhere. Bayern equalised to make it 2-2 on the night, but the decisive third goal just wouldn’t come. They left Madrid with their heads held high nonetheless. In 2020, we finally broke the Spanish curse, thrashing Barcelona in the quarter-finals en route to winning the competition.

8 May 2024: Real Madrid 2-1 Bayern – Champions League semi-final

After a 2-2 draw in the first leg at the Allianz Arena, Bayern put up a brilliant fight against Real in the winner-takes-all semi-final second leg at the Bernabéu. Alphonso Davies put Munich ahead in the 68th minute, sparking dreams among fans of a repeat of the 2013 all-German final against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley. But Real struck in the closing stages. Joselu first equalised in the 88th minute and then, just three minutes later, scored the winner for Los Blancos. A goal by Matthijs de Ligt in stoppage time did not count because the referee had already blown the whistle for an alleged offside. So, despite a tireless performance, Bayern were eliminated by the narrowest of margins and missed out on the final.

We spoke with Real’s Emilio Butragueño to preview the quarter-final tie: