All eyes are on the Champions League once again as the semi-finals are set to kick-off this week, with Bayern Munich’s meeting against Real Madrid the true headliner.
The two sides have faced off more than any other in the history of the competition, with this meeting also expected to be a cracker and a half.
The season has gone much differently for both sides, with Bayern Munich losing out on the Bundesliga to Bayer Leverkusen for the first time in a decade, Madrid have returned to the La Liga throne after missing out on the title to Barcelona last season.
Despite that, Thomas Tuchel and Joshua Kimmich sounded optimistic about the tie speaking during his pre-game press conference.
Talking about Madrid’s potential game-plan and their most threatening players, Tuchel spoke about Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo. However, he did outline some differences between the two, even though the play largely the same role.
"Vini and Rodrygo are both good but also different," he said, as quoted by FC Bayern TV.
"Rodrygo scores a lot of decisive goals, he did it against me at Chelsea. Vinicius is often on the left where he dribbles, is very good at shooting and very clinical. Rodrygo also has incredible pace and also plays as the centre-forward at times."
While Rodrygo has largely played a much more central role this season, closer to being a false 9 more than anything, Vinicius has been given freedom to roam on the left-wing and centrally, maximising his 1v1 ability.
Tuchel also pointed out that the main difference for Madrid over the last few years for Karim Benzema, who clutched the game against Chelsea during the 2021/22 season when he was coaching the Blues.
However, he pointed out that since he has gone, Madrid have tried multiple things, including using Jude Bellingham in several roles, but especially as a false 9.
"But there are still Kroos, Modric, Vinicius, so not everything has changed. We need to find a good balance," Tuchel added ahead of the headliner.