Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich: FCB Players Who Must Excel to Eliminate Blancos

Real Madrid may be riding a huge wave of momentum after defeating rival Barcelona and nearly locking up a La Liga title, but it enters the second leg of its Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich facing a deficit. FCB was victorious 2-1 on home soil a week ago, so Los Blancos have an uphill climb.

Not only will Madrid have to beat Munich, but it cannot afford to allow more than one goal unless the game is a blowout. With that in mind, Die Roten have plenty of options and plenty of avenues to eliminate Real Madrid. Munich could lay back and play for a tie or go all out in hopes of cementing an advantage in away goals.

With that said, Die Bayern will need production throughout the lineup, both offensively and defensively. Here are three Bayern Munich stars who will have to be at their best in order for the German squad to advance to the Champions League final.

Mario Gomez

If not for the play of Bayern Munich forward Mario Gomez, Real Madrid would not be in the precarious position it currently finds itself in.

When these two teams met in the first leg last week, Gomez broke the hearts of the Madrid players and supporters as he scored in the 90th minute to give FCB a massive victory. Because of that goal, Los Blancos must respond with a win of their own. Gomez is one person who must ensure that doesn't happen, however.

Gomez is Munich's leading scorer this season with 25 goals, and none was bigger than his tally against Madrid last week. If he is able to net a decisive goal in the second leg, however, it will be of even greater importance. Bayern Munich has a ton of offensive skill with players like Franck Ribéry, Arjen Robben and Bastian Schweinsteiger, but none of them can control the pace of a game like Gomez, and because of that he'll need to be on top of his game.

Manuel Neuer 

There is no question that Real Madrid will come out with reckless abandon in the second leg as it will be desperate to strike first, and because of that Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will have to be extremely sharp.

Neuer held up well last week as he only allowed Los Blancos to score once, but he very well may need to be perfect this time around. Neuer has 17 clean sheets on the season so he is more than capable of being flawless, but it obviously won't be easy to do it against the best offensive team in La Liga history.

Real Madrid broke the all-time La Liga scoring record this season and much of that is due to league leader Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as Xabi Alonso. Ronaldo is a top-flight finisher and he proved that he can come through in the clutch as well by scoring late against Barça. On the other hand, Alonso is a pace setter who will be responsible for putting pressure on the FCB defense. No matter how well the defense plays Neuer is going to face some tough shots, and he'll need to be equal to each and every task.

Philipp Lahm

As much as Bayern Munich would probably like to get on the scoreboard in order to neutralize Real Madrid's away goal advantage, Die Roten may decide to stay in a defensive shell for most of the game. Regardless of what Munich's strategy is, their defensive backbone will have to be strong against Los Blancos. Bayern Munich has several excellent defenders, but the closest thing to elite among them is likely Philipp Lahm, who will have his work cut out for him.

Ronaldo likely has more confidence now than he ever has coming off the game-winning goal against Barcelona and he will be a handful and then some for the Bayern Munich defense. The key will be not over-committing and simply making routine plays like they should. Lahm is better than most in the world when it comes to playing solid defense and making the smart play, and that will have to continue if Munich is going to weather Real Madrid's offensive storm.