Bayern Munich

In one of the ultimate glamor ties of European club football, it was Real Madrid left back Marcelo who emerged as Wednesday’s Man of the Match in his side’s 2-1 away leg victory over Bayern Munich.

The 29-year-old Brazilian’s day got off to a flyer when opposition winger Arjen Robben was forced off with an injury as early as the 8th minute. The introduction of Thiago Alcantara as his replacement immediately shifted Bayern’s focus to the middle of the park and allowed Marcelo more freedom to get forward on the wing.

It’s 1-1 at halftime in an enthralling UEFA Champions League semifinal between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid at the Allianz Arena, Joshua Kimmich opening the scoring for Bayern in the 28’ before Marcelo’s sweet strike evened things up in the 44’.

Jupp Heynckes has been forced into two early substitutions with both Arjen Robben and Jerome Boateng limping off injured, but Bayern took the lead when Real failed to track the run of Kimmich. The 23-year-old left back then punished Real with a clinical finish. 

So it’s Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich and Liverpool vs. AS Roma in the Champions League draw for the semifinals on Friday. What immediately jump out are all the storylines and relationships between the two sets of semifinalists. But there’s more to this matchup than player links. 

Sure, Bayern’s James Rodriguez is on loan from Real Madrid and Toni Kroos once plied his trade for the Bavarians. And yes, Salah transferred to Liverpool from Roma last summer. 

While the dirty brainwashed masses were enraptured by the spectacle of Juventus-Real Madrid, the real soccer fans, the true connoisseurs, were focused on Sevilla-Bayern Munich.

Real Madrid smashed Juventus 3-0. Bayern Munich got past Sevilla 2-1 on the road. Barcelona played like shit and still beat Roma 4-1.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is Pep Guardiola's kryptonite. 

The charismatic German has beaten Guardiola more than any other manager — a total of seven victories for Klopp dating back to meetings between the two in the Bundesliga. 

This is a remarkable achievement, especially if one considers how dominating Guardiola's teams (be it Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Manchester City) normally are.