Bale: We are not qualified yet!

It's do or die time for Bayern Munich. The German champions are facing elimination, being one goal down after the first leg. Bayern could miss the opportunity to reach the final and defend the trophy won last year. No team has ever retain the Champions league trophy in the new format.

These two teams have met before in the same stage of the same competition, two years ago. Exactly like then, Real Madrid won the first leg 2-1, but the Germans leveled the aggregate score and knocked out the Spaniards after penalty kick. The same scenario is possible tonight, if Bayern wins 1-0 in the regular time.

However, bookmakers expect a 90 minutes battle with plenty of goals. This is because some of the main “actors” are returning. Good news for Carlo Anchelotti. Gareth Bale is returning after illness, Cristiano Ronaldo will most likely start after dealing with a hamstring injury, while Benzema and Pepe are also back. On the other side, captain Philipp Lahm and Dutch midfielder Arjen Robben are eligible to play.

Welshman Gareth Bale is aware of the difficult mission Real Madrid has in Munich. “No, I definitely don't think we've qualified yet. We still have a very, very hard game here against Bayern. The 1-0 score doesn't makes to much of a difference and we know we are going to have a hard game no matter what,” said Bale.

The semifinal duel between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid will be played tonight at 19.45 CET at a sold out Allianz Arena.