Why this is Real Madrid's best chance to beat Bayern Munich

Bale and Ronaldo will have to play a big part if Real Madrid are to beat Bayern Munich

“Bit by bit I’m feeling better and what I want more than anything is to be able to help the team out as soon as possible.”
That was Cristiano Ronaldo sounding as hopeful as he can. Well, who wouldn’t be. Real Madrid are currently in the most exciting phase of their season having just won the Copa Del Rey against Barcelona. And with the mighty Bayern Munich visiting them in the coming days, the Los Blancos have every reason to consider themselves favourites and go vindictive on the already-crowned Bundesliga champions.

I say this not just because they have won a cup final, but of late the team has improved defensively and developed an overall sense of maturity. Centre backs Pepe and Sergio Ramos have worked together with a significant rapport and shockingly enough, it’s been a while since the reckless Portuguese got himself booked.

Moreover,from the younger and highly-rated contingent, both Isco and Daniel Carvajal have readily stepped up to the task in the absence of the injured Ronaldo and Marcelo. I was actually amazed by Isco’s work rate during the Copa del Rey final. He constantly made vital interceptions and was the focal point of a number of counter attacks. Even the 24-year-old Asier Illarramendi is reverberating confidence under Xabi Alonso’s guidance.

On the whole, the team has grown more resilient. Take the away performance against Dortmund for instance. Yes they were lethargic and yes they were complacent. But even in such dire state, a few players stood up and prevented the wreckage from happening. Who would have envisaged Iker Casillas to produce save after save and form the hardest wall for Dortmund to break open. It has been the club’s most testing 90 minutes this season and with a bit of luck and ample determination they came out on top.

On the other hand, Bayern are slowly but surely descending. Goals have been hard to come by this season for both Arjen Robben and Frank Ribery, as they are yet to discover their best form this year. Even this Bundesliga title that they have clinched was aided by the numerous injuries that besieged Borussia Dortmund and their cunning capture of Mario Gotze. Plus, recent losses to Dortmund and Augsburg have shown that this so-called all-star team is not impervious and they too can founder and loose focus.

Furthermore, Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti would have noted down the several shortcomings of the Bavarians after their below-par display against Manchester United. They were highly vulnerable on the counter but unfortunately United didn’t possess the pace Real will. Their build-up seemed fairly predictable with most of their forward play flowing through either Robben or Ribery. And apart from the two centre backs not being agile enough, the communication between them was blunt. These will be the areas that Carlo will want his team to exploit.

And for that the Italian will extract help from the athleticism and physicality of Gareth Bale and Ronaldo (if he’s fit). Both are gifted with bursting pace and an intimidating presence that can devour any defence for dinner. In particular, the Welshman has been in stupendous form of late, scoring and assisting with free will. That breath-taking goal against the Catalans, only underlines his ability to beat anybody on any given day. Also excelling to a great extent is midfielder Luka Modric. He has been the epitome of calmness and solidarity in this set-up. The Croatian is versatile and better than all of Bayern’s midfielders.He can pick a killer pass, score a class goal, make a hard tackle, read and intercept the play.

Sadly speaking, Munich don’t reflect a similar scenario. There is less urgency and pace in the team now than there was under Jupp Heynckes. The players are just too interdependent that they hardly possess an individualistic approach to the game. Yet another drawback for me is that they don’t have a plan B. It is simply pass, pass, pass and keep the ball. So, I don’t think there will be an element of surprise or enigma, an aspect that can terribly work against them.
For example, in Madrid’s case, Di Maria has played in a number of attacking positions this season (to accommodate Gareth Bale), something that will definitely give the team added flexibility over their opponents.

Therefore, this is, in my opinion Madrid’s biggest chance to avenge what happened two years ago at the Santiago Bernabeu. The team is fit and raring to go under the guidance of the vastly experienced Carlo Ancelotti. And despite their hopes of a league title diminished by Atletico Madrid, the players have not given up and on the contrary, have started to believe. All that money spent, all those big-name signings, now is the time to hit the accelerator.