Champions League Matchday Preview: Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid

Bayern Munich's Colombian forward #14 Luis Diaz celebrates scoring the opening goal with Bayern Munich's Austrian midfielder #27 Konrad Laimer (R) during the UEFA Champions League quarter final first leg football match between Real Madrid CF and FC Bayern Munich at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid on April 7, 2026. (Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images

After dominating for the first 70 minutes of the first leg in the Champions League quarterfinals, Bayern Munich eventually escaped with a 2-1 advantage over Real Madrid. This also marked Bayern’s first win over Real Madrid in the last 10 meetings. Over the weekend, Bayern traveled back to Germany for a 5-0 beatdown of St. Pauli, breaking the Bundesliga’s single-season scoring record with five games to spare.

Real Madrid caught fire in March but have suffered two losses and a draw since Kylian Mbappé returned from injury. Real Madrid have a rich history of producing Champions League magic but will need to convert their chances in front of a raucous crowd at the Allianz.

Match Info

****Location: Allianz Arena, Munich Germany

Date: Wednesday, April 15th, 2026

Time: 9:00pm local time (3:00pm EST)

TV/streaming: Paramount Plus, Univision, DAZN (via Prime Video), Find Your Country

Odds: Bayern (-190), Draw (+400), Real Madrid (+375)

Team Info

Here is the predicted lineup, courtesy of BFW:

Lineup changes

• IN: Harry Kane, Luis Díaz, Aleksandar Pavlović, Josip Stanišić, Dayot Upamecano, Jonathan Tah
• OUT: Nicolas Jackson, Raphaël Guerreiro, Leon Goretzka, Tom Bischof, Kim Min-jae, Hiroki Itō

Player status updates

• Harry Kane, calf (probable)
• Serge Gnabry, knee (questionable)
• Hiroki Itō, thigh (questionable)
• Lennart Karl, thigh (out)
• Sven Ulreich, adductor (out)

Three things to know about Bayern

• In the last five years, Bayern has only lost once at home in the Champions League, a 2-1 quarterfinal defeat at the hands of Inter Milan in 2025
• The only time the German record champions have been eliminated after an away win in the first leg was in the 2010/11 Champions League round of 16 against Inter, when the old away goals rule meant a 3-2 defeat in the second leg at the Allianz Arena was not enough following the 1-0 victory in Milan (via FCBayern.com)
• In both losses this season, Bayern has been held to a single goal but Bayern has scored multiple goals in 14 of the last 15 matches

Three things to know about Real Madrid

• Leading Scorer: Kylian Mbappé, 39 goals
• Player to watch: Vinícius Júnior, attacker
• Form: WWLLD; 2nd place (La Liga)

Prediction

Bayern draws 3-3 (advances on 5-4 aggregate). This is going to be one of the wildest games you’ll ever see. Bayern presses early against Real Madrid’s low block and Harry Kane scores a header from a set piece. Real Madrid will storm back with three straight goals from Kylian Mbappé to take the aggregate lead. The home crowd will rally behind the Rekordmeister, resulting in a Kane penalty kick in the 80th minute. With both teams physically and mentally exhausted, Luis Díaz will be the stoppage time hero with a 1v1 breakaway goal that starts from a Real Madrid corner kick.

If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…

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