Clash of Bayern and Man United heralds Real Madrid.. Will the usual scenario be repeated?

The 2023-2024 Champions League group stage competitions will start next Tuesday, with all the first round matches taking place over two days.

Bayern Munich’s confrontation against Manchester United comes at the top of the opening round, and will be hosted by the Allianz Arena on Wednesday.

The two teams have previously met many times in the tournament, having faced each other 11 times in the Champions League.

During those clashes, Bayern achieved victory on 4 occasions, compared to only two for the Red Devils, while 5 other matches were decided in draws.

Historical amulet

Bayern and United have good memories of their confrontations against each other in the Champions League edition, as one or both of them guarantee a large percentage of reaching the final match whenever they face each other.

The beginning was in the 1998-1999 season, when they met in the group stage, and the two matches ended in a draw (1-1) and (2-2).

In that season, the two teams succeeded in making their way to the final match and met each other at the Camp Nou stadium, so United won the title in a dramatic, historical scenario, as it won in the last minutes (2-1).

In the 2000-2001 season, the two giants clashed in the quarter-finals, and the Bavarian team succeeded in eliminating the Red Devils by winning back and forth (1-0) and (2-1).

Bayern then made its way to the final stop, seizing the title at the expense of Valencia on penalties after a draw (1-1) in regular and extra time.

The third time this happened dates back to the 2009-2010 season, when they met again in the quarter-finals, and Bayern qualified for the next round by winning the first leg (2-1) and losing the second leg away from home (2-3).

Bayern continued until the end, to meet Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, but lost the title by losing by two unanswered goals.

Good omen for Real Madrid

Bayern Munich or Manchester United did not reach the final on two occasions after clashing with each other, the first of which was in the 2001-2002 season, where they met in the group stage and tied (1-1) and (0-0), but they failed to reach the final stage, and Real Madrid won the title. At the time, at the expense of Bayer Leverkusen.

This was also repeated in the 2013-2014 season after they met in the quarter-finals, and Bayern crossed into the semi-finals by tying in England (1-1) before winning in Munich (3-1).

But the Bavarians’ path ended at Real Madrid, which beat them back and forth (1-0) and (4-0), allowing the Merengues to reach the final before seizing the title at the expense of Atletico Madrid with a score of (4-1).

This means that whenever Bayern Munich and Manchester United meet, one or both of them reach the final, or Real Madrid takes their place and wins the title.