In Madrid it is Atlético, in Spain it is Barça, in Europe it is Bayern. These are the three intimate enemies of Madrid throughout its history and the one that evokes the darkest scenes is precisely Bayern, against whom it has experienced many episodes that it would like to erase from its memory. Of course, he has played less against him than against his local nemeses, but he retains worse memories of those clashes than of a century of disputes with Atlético and Barça.
Few clubs have been so permanent on the European front. This explains why they have played 26 games in the European Cup-Champions and zero in the following competitions, which they have rarely attended. It is the most repeated crash. The balance of such a long struggle is 11 Merengue wins, 12 Bavarians and three draws, although if we talk about qualifying rounds, Madrid has won seven and the Germans have won five. In the 99-00 season, Bayern won both games in the group stage, but then Madrid eliminated them in the semifinals with a header from Anelka that became the only valuable thing he did during his time at the club.
The last three times they have clashed, Madrid has passed, always winning in Munich, with the pearl of a 0-4 to Guardiola. That could give another perspective and perhaps recent fans have it, but with a longer look ghosts from the past appear, and many of them. He Bernabéu Crazy that he attacked referee Linemayer and caused a field closure; the expulsion of Amancio in Munich in his last European match; Juanito’s stomp on Matthäus’ head; Augenthaler’s horns to the Bernabéu audience; Van Bommel’s cut of sleeves; the unprecedented ex officio sanction to Roberto Carlos for an encounter with Salihadmizic; a poorly disallowed goal for Sergio Ramos that cost him the tie; his penalty to limbo against Neuer, who unleashed so many jokes… Eliminations, offenses, embarrassments. I don’t know if I left something out.
And the same in terms of friendlies. Bayern won the first two editions of the Bernabéu Trophy, and also the most sacred of all, the Centennial, always leaving defiant sparks. And worse: in one edition they left the field out of pure cockiness. They were playing the losing final against Dinamo Tbilisi, the referee, Pes Pérez, tried to show off at their expense and in the 42nd minute they retired. The entire stadium, full and silent, was waiting for the Madrid-AZ Alkmaar final, which could not be brought forward because it was televised.
It was not the only contempt for the trophy that bears the patriarch’s name. On one of his many visits to Bayern, a photographer passed by the museum and saw that the colossal silver object was in the stairwell. The Bernabéu Trophy, which Florentino has been slowly evaporating with dissimulation, was the great celebration of Real Madrid fans. With three guests always of the highest European level, it had the air of a kind of Final Four of the European Cup, and it was lived as such. That photo outraged.
On another occasion, Madrid accepted, for money, a friendly there in the preseason. It was with only eight days of training, Bayern was 10 days away from starting the Bundesliga. They fought and the result was 9-1. Never before or since has he suffered such a defeat. Upon returning, coach Boskov, who expressed himself very well with very few words, said that it was better to lose one game by nine goals than nine games by one goal.
Curiously, they have never met in a final. It won’t be now either. It does not seem that we are facing his best version given the review that Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen has given him in the Bundesliga, which had been winning uninterruptedly since 2013. And Madrid has just eliminated City, something like spearing the dragon that was sowing the terror. But a very deep concern stirs in the Madrid soul before this semi-final.
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