Bayern is the only club in the world that is truly respected by Madrid fans. It’s more or less like the French team for Brazilian fans. As he lost one, lost two, lost three, respect was acquired through hard work. For a long time, Real fans were in real panic about having to play in Munich. It was considered a trip of certain defeat, which is unimaginable when we talk about Real Madrid, the most powerful club in intergalactic football.
In European history, the duel between Real and Bayern was the most repeated. There are 12 knockout matches in total, with 7 Spanish victories and 5 German victories. There were 26 games, with 12 white victories and 11 German victories. Here it is important to highlight that Madrid beat the Germans in the last three clashes. And not only that. In these three clashes, they won the Munich match, something that had not happened even once in the ten previous visits (with nine Bayern victories and one draw).
That’s why I say that “paura” (or even dread) is a thing of the past. It used to be like that, it was a terrible fear of facing Bayern in Europe. But, after the last classifications, the respect remained, the fear went away.
The first duels between them took place almost 50 years ago, in 1976 – Beckenbauer’s time. Bayern defeated Real in the semi-finals and then became three-time champions. They are the only ones, apart from Cruyff’s Ajax, to have managed to conquer Europe three times in a row (Real did it on two occasions). In 1987, again in the semis, another Bavarian victory.
Real achieved their first triumph the following year, the quarterfinals of ’88. In 2000, they won again, in the semis, but in 2001 Bayern got revenge at the same stage. The following year, 2002, the duel returned to Madrid, now in the quarterfinals. We skipped a season and, in 2004, Real beat Bayern in the round of 16. In 2007, the Germans got revenge. In 2012, in the only duel decided on penalties, Bayern advanced to the Champions League final. At that time, the advantage in the knockout stages was 5-4 for the Bavarians and, as I already mentioned, Real had never won in Munich.
Fate changed exactly ten years ago. Since then, there have been three duels won by Real – semis of 14, quarters of 17 and semis of 18. In total, in six games, there were five wins for Real and one draw. The most emblematic of the victories, without a doubt, Ancelotti’s 4-0 against Guardiola’s team, in Munich, in the return match in 2014. There, it seems that the curse was broken. Bayern went from being “La Bestia Negra” to becoming the “red customer”.
