Bayern Munich v Real Madrid: Champions League, semi-final, first leg – live

Display only the essential happenings

In order to utilize this function, kindly activate JavaScript.

"Come on guys!" Jude Bellingham cheers to his fellow teammates while giving them a round of applause to motivate them before Bayern starts the game.

The lineups have been announced! Bayern will be sporting their classic red and white kit, while Real Madrid will be donning their alternate dark-blue strip. The atmosphere at the Fußball Arena München, or the Allianz Arena as mandated by Uefa, is electric with excitement. The stadium is illuminated in a fiery red as a tribute to the legendary Franz Beckenbauer. The game will kick off shortly after a lively rendition of Zadok the Priest (Version).

Before the match, there were some comments posted by fans. One person named Mary Waltz mentioned that she wasn't a fan of the Tottenham football team, but she really admired Harry Kane, one of their players. She felt incredibly happy when he left Tottenham to join Bayern. Mary believed that this would be his chance to win a championship title, without having to deal with any of the drama that comes with the Spurs management team. Unfortunately, Bayern did not win the Bundesliga championship, and now there is some drama happening within the team's management. Despite this, Mary still hopes that Harry Kane can lead Bayern to the Champions League title, as she feels that he deserves it.

At first, I had some conflicting thoughts about this match. I have no particular liking towards either team, but one of them needs to win. I pondered on this for a few minutes and finally came to a conclusion. While I wouldn't mind seeing Harry Kane miss out on a win this season, I cannot forget what Sergio Ramos did to Salah and Karius during the 2018 final - with his armlock and elbow respectively. Although Ramos has since left the team, Dani Carvajal seems to be his suitably dirty replacement. Although it may be unlikely, I wish for Real Madrid to never win anything ever again. Am I still holding a grudge? Perhaps.

Your argument about this being an old-fashioned European Cup semifinal is interesting. It's been suggested that the surprising outcome of the 1983 Cup Winners' Cup led the top European clubs to persuade Uefa to create the Champions League. As you're aware, in that year the Cup Winners' Cup champions beat both Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. In an alternative reality, tonight's winner would face Aberdeen. It's a shame things didn't turn out that way. What happened to Aberdeen? And why has football in general changed so much?

Jorge Oróstica suggested that the phrase "It's on" would be more accurately translated to "Está en marcha" in Spanish.

"Ist Zustand" makes no sense. Instead, you could go with "Jetzt geht's los!" - suggests Eric Schwab.

Google Translate has been fired according to an article by The Guardian.

Bayern and Real Madrid have faced off 26 times in the past, all of which were in the European Cup. The majority of these matches, 14 to be precise, were at the semi-final stage, indicating that we are in for an epic clash. Bayern have emerged victorious in four semi-final fixtures, whereas Real has won three. However, the Spanish giants have managed to win the last two encounters between the two teams. When they last met in the 2017-2018 semi-final, Real Madrid triumphed with a 4-3 aggregate victory. In their prior matches, Bayern has recorded nine wins, one draw, and three losses while playing at home against Real, scoring 26 goals and conceding 18.

Bayern Munich has made three modifications to their starting line-up from their previous match against Eintracht Frankfurt, which they won 2-1 in the Bundesliga. Leroy Sané, Jamal Musiala, and Minjae Kim are now included in the team, replacing Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Raphaël Guerreiro, who are on the bench, and Matthijs de Ligt, who is injured. Harry Kane is the main striker for the team.

The Real Madrid team underwent major alterations during their 1-0 La Liga victory over Real Sociedad last Friday. Nearly all of the players who started in their previous game were replaced, with only two - Aurélien Tchouameni and Captain Nacho - retaining their spots. Thibaut Courtois is back after a lengthy absence due to an ACL injury, although he will be a substitute. Jude Bellingham will be playing alongside his fellow national team mates, Kane and Eric Dier, from England.

Bayern Munich has announced its starting eleven for the match. The team will have Neuer as the goalkeeper, and Kimmich, Kim, Dier, and Mazraoui as the defenders. The midfielders will be Laimer, Goretzka, Sane, and Muller. The forward position will be occupied by Musiala and Kane. On the substitutes bench, we have Upamecano, Gnabry, Choupo-Moting, Zaragoza, Peretz, Davies, Guerreiro, Ulreich, Tel, and Pavlovic.

Real Madrid's starting lineup includes Lunin, Lucas, Rudiger, Nacho, Mendy, Valverde, Tchouameni, Kroos, Bellingham, Rodrygo, and Vinicius Junior. The substitutes for the game are Courtois, Eder Militao, Modric, Camavinga, Joselu, Ceballos, Garcia, Diaz, Guler, and Arrizabalaga.

Game official: Clement Turpin from France

We're excited to bring you updates on the matches between Arsenal and Manchester City, as well as Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. However, we can't help but feel that the Premier League is to blame for the match-ups feeling more like a classic European Cup semi-final. We apologize to fans of these English clubs who may disagree with us. The games will begin at 8pm BST and we can't wait to see what happens!