Wetin dey happen for Santiago Bernabeu dis Tuesday evening no be small gist o. Na big Champions League quarter-final first leg wey Real Madrid dey host Bayern Munich. But before di match even kick off, two historic records don fall like ripe mango.
First, di young boy Tiago Bitarsh wey Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa throw inside starting lineup don break one record wey don dey since 1996. According to di statistics network Squawka, Bitarsh, at just 18 years and 247 days, don become di youngest Real Madrid player to start Champions League quarter-final match. E don surpass di record wey club legend Raul Gonzalez set.
For di Bayern Munich side, di talk na about di ogbonge goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer. Di man go play im 136th match as starter for Bayern for dis competition. According to Opta, dis one mean say Neuer don equal di record of di legendary Lionel Messi, wey be former Barcelona captain. Na only Iker Casillas wey get 149 starts with Real Madrid dey top di list ahead of dem.
Stats Foot from France add say Neuer go also play im 69th match for Champions League knockout rounds, tying Karim Benzema record. Cristiano Ronaldo still dey lead dat one with 85 matches.
Meanwhile, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany dey celebrate im own milestone. Dis match go be im 100th match in charge of di Bavarian giants since e take over for July 2024.
As for di match itself, di atmosphere dey electric. Bayern fans don already take over di area around Bernabeu. Di game don start and Bayern Munich come out strong. Dem dey dominate di ball for middle of di pitch, pressing Real Madrid well well.
Real Madrid dey miss two key players. Thibaut Courtois no dey available because of right quadriceps injury, so Andriy Lunin dey mind di goal. Jude Bellingham sef no start as dem dey manage im workload after injury.
Bayern don already create chances. Konrad Laimer try one from outside box but e fly over. Jonathan Tah nearly score but Alvaro Carreras clear am for line. Michael Olise take dangerous free-kick wey hit di wall.
For Real Madrid side, Vinicius Jr. try one powerful shot but Manuel Neuer show im class, dive low to push di ball for corner. Kylian Mbappe get di first shot on target for Madrid but Neuer save am easily.
Di referee for di match na Michael Oliver from England, with Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring as assistant referees.
Di starting lineup for Bayern: Manuel Neuer; Konrad Laimer, Dayot Upamecano, Jonathan Tah, Josip Stanisic; Joshua Kimmich, Aleksandar Pavlovic; Luis Diaz, Serge Gnabry, Michael Olise; Harry Kane.
For Real Madrid: Andriy Lunin; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dean Huijsen, Antonio Rudiger, Alvaro Carreras; Federico Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni, Thiago Pitarch, Arda Guler; Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr.
Di match dey broadcast live for many places. For USA, na DAZN, Paramount+, DirecTV Stream, Univision, TUDN and ViX dey show am. For UK, na TNT Sports and HBO Max. For India, Sony Sports Network and Sony LIV dey carry am.
Dis quarter-final tie dey hot because both teams enter with big confidence. Real Madrid crush Manchester City 5-1 on aggregate for round of 16. Bayern Munich sef scatter Atalanta 10-2 on aggregate. Na real heavyweight clash dis one.
As di game dey go on, Bayern still dey control tempo with dia high press. Real Madrid dey sit deep small, waiting for chance to counter with dia quick players like Mbappe and Vinicius. Di tactical battle between Arbeloa and Kompany dey interesting to watch.
Di second leg go hold for Germany next week, so every goal and every chance for dis first leg dey important. Di Bernabeu crowd dey loud, hoping dia team go carry advantage go Germany.
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