UEFA Champions League Second Leg Preview: Real Madrid vs. FC Bayern München

In today's times, Jose Mourinho is the poster boy of football. His Madrid side is aiming for "La Decima"—their 10th European Cup.

It has been 10 years since they claimed their last one. Ten sounds like a perfect number. Standing in front of them is "La Bestia Negra"—the black beast otherwise known as FC Bayern München.

Bayern played Bremen on Saturday with a much changed side. The biggest surprise was perhaps the fact that Takashi Usami actually played again. The Japanese started the match and played well.

Bayern was overall the better side. They constantly launched attacks against a sub-par Bremen defence. Despite going behind, Bayern won 1-2.

Naldo scored at either end before Franck Ribery scored the winner. Morale will be good, as seldom has Bayern won games after going behind this season. It has only occurred three times in all competitions. Thomas Mueller put in a really good performance, and he will be needed in Madrid if Bayern falls behind.

Ribery then headed over to the bench and celebrated with Arjen Robben, thus clearing up rumours about a dressing room fight between the two. Ribery was fined by the club following his actions. The timing of his apology could not be more perfect. Jupp Heynckes and Jerome Boateng both confirmed that all is well at the club now,

Real Madrid played Barcelona with the same starting 11 that took to the pitch against Bayern last week. They counter-attacked effectively all night. The defence had a brilliant night against a downcast Barca side. Despite controlling the possession, Barcelona wasn't able to break down Real, much like Bayern's side from 2010-11 under Louis Van Gaal, minus the absolutely shambolic defending.

Going back to the Bundesliga, Bayern guaranteed their fans a second-place finish by winning. Dortmund beat Gladbach that very night, thus claiming the Bundesliga.

Bayern can perhaps take a lesson from Real Madrid on how to be champions in one's own league: go to the best side's ground and beat them. Bayern still has the Pokal final to contest in May. They will be trying to prevent Dortmund from winning the first-ever domestic double in the club's history.

The Real players will be full of confidence ahead of this one but will perhaps be a bit tired after having had to defend for two games in a row. If Mourinho managed to squeeze more than sixty games out of an aging Inter side, he will easily do it from his Real players.

Real is not involved in the Copa Del Rey. They thus have just five games to play with an additional one added if they make the CL final.

Most experts are confidently predicting a Madrid victory. They have every right to, looking at Madrid's track record at home. Only three teams at home have beaten Madrid at home: Valencia, Barcelona and Malaga.

Overall, Madrid has lost to only three teams this season: Barcelona, Levante and Bayern. They exacted revenge on the first two. Will they be able to do so against Bayern?

Bayern should have scored at least one more goal in the first leg. Mario Gomez's horror miss cannot be forgotten easily. What I have to say, though, is that he troubled Sergio Ramos and Pepe endlessly. While he did have chances against them, Ramos and Pepe did manage to distract him every time he had a chance successfully. In that sense, the two central defenders played well in the first leg.

Alvaro Arbeloa and Fabio Coentrao did not fare well against Bayern's two wingers and full-backs. Ronaldo was kept quiet by Lahm. He switched flanks to get past the young Alaba but had no success either.

Xabi Alonso looked tired, while Bastian Schweinsteiger did not look to be at his best. He is playing many matches now, though, and Bayern will hope he performs well against Madrid.

Bayern had a serious problem winning away from home. However, that changed during the last portion of this season where Bayern won four out of five away. Bayern beat Gladbach (via a shootout), Nuremberg, Hertha and Bremen in that spell. They lost to Dortmund by a solitary goal. Bayern missed a penalty and a clear opportunity in that match, though.

In my opinion, Madrid is a much better counter-attacking side. The goal they scored against Bayern came via a great counter-attack, which started with Bastian Schweinsteiger losing the ball in Real's half of the pitch. They scored the winner against Barcelona via a counter-attack.

Bayern is also very good on the counter-attack. Bayern needs to have a slight advantage in possession, though, as they can't defend for the full ninety minutes.

Mourinho's side can bang in the goals against what is assumed to be a weak Bayern back four. I actually think the back four is quite good, considering they conceded less than title-winning Dortmund. However, the back four does have its off days. It conceded three goals twice this season (3-1 against Gladbach; 3-2 against Mainz). Mourinho might decide to take the lead and shut up shop even if the fans don't like it.

A 1-0 lead will take Madrid through. Bayern has been beaten 1-0 three times this season (twice by Dortmund and once by Basel). The last meeting in Madrid between these two sides ended 3-2 in Real's favour—a scoreline that would be large enough to take Bayern through.

In the 2009-'10 season, Bayern won the first leg 2-1 and lost the away leg 2-3, making their way past Fiorentina and United and eventually to the final.

Bayern will be returning to the Bernabeu for the first time since that painful day in 2010 when they lost to Inter in the final. Without a suspended Franck Ribery, a top-heavy Bayern could not break through Inter. Heynckes' Bayern is a much more well balanced side as the captain of the Real side of 1998 that won under Heynckes, Manuel Sanchis, confirmed in a recent interview.

Bayern is brilliant on their great days. By their attacking standards, they were average in the first leg. Bayern has had a few bad days this season, to say the least, one of which came in the Champions League against Basel. Maybe Mourinho will take some pointers from Heiko Vogel's team setup in the first leg.

The player who will perhaps trouble Bayern the most is Karim Benzema. Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Oezil did not combine for the goal in the first leg; however, Benzema looked far more dangerous and had Neuer working in just seven minutes.

Bayern's overall away record in this season's competition stands at three wins, one draw and two losses. One of those losses cannot be taken into view as it came on the last day of the group stages against City when Bayern had already qualified. Talking about Madrid's home record in CL this season will be a waste of my time.

Almost the entire Bayern team is a booking away from a suspension in their next match in the Champions League, including Philipp Lahm, Holger Badstuber, Jerome Boateng, David Alaba, Toni Kroos, Luiz Gustavo and Thomas Mueller. Madrid hardly has any suspension worries to deal with compared to Bayern, but Marcelo should not be playing in this match following his frustrating foul on Mueller in the first leg.

The players who will incur a suspension for Madrid with another booking are Ramos, Coentrao, Alonso and Gonzalo Higuain. Breno and Daniel Van Buyten are both unavailable for Bayern, while Ricardo Carvalho is not available for Madrid.

So, how will Bayern line up? Considering the first leg, it is really glaringly obvious:

Manuel Neuer

Philipp Lahm, Holger Badstuber, Jerome Boateng, David Alaba

Bastian Schweinsteiger, Luiz Gustavo

Arjen Robben, Toni Kroos, Franck Ribery

Mario Gomez

Bayern will have to try to score the first goal. If Madrid scores first, Bayern will have to chase the game, which will leave their back-line exposed.

However, Bayern really cannot be expected to sit back for too long, even though Philipp Lahm felt after the first leg that they can do so to a certain extent. Bayern knows how to play in only one way, and that is to attack. In only one match have they failed to launch many attacks, and that was against Dortmund this month.

One has to keep in mind that while this Bayern team is experienced, most of them are still young. The atmosphere at the Bernabeu is certainly intimidating. In 2010, half the crowd was behind Bayern and they still failed to win.

The only time Bayern failed to advance past Real in the semis was when they played the first leg at home. Bayern advanced every time they won the home leg 2-1. Both Madrid and Bayern are vulnerable to conceding first, especially Bayern.

So, I offer you no prediction. I have no idea frankly how the match will pan out. So, please, give me your thoughts on what you think will happen.