Former Real Madrid manager Bernd Schuster has said that she believes that German club Bayern Munich face a difficult fixture against his former club in the semifinals of the Champions League.

Bayern Munich qualified for the semifinals of the Champions League after beating French club Marseille 4-0 on aggregate. They will be facing their first match against Real Madrid at home, but Bernd Schuster believes that the Spanish opponents are far superior to the German club. Schuster has said that Real Madrid are the favourites in this match due to the fact that they are better in defence.

This has been one of the fixtures that has been played a number of times in the past, but Bayern Munich have emerged as the winners from most of them partly due to their defensive performance. However, Schuster reckons that the defensive performance within the Germans is not on par with those of the Spanish opponents.

The winner from this tie are most likely to face Barcelona in the final of the Champions League, which will be at the Allianz arena– the home of Bayern Munich. Schuster reckons that players like Sergio Ramos and Pepe are of much better quality than Boateng and Badstuber. Bayern have been one of the best attacking teams in Europe alongside Real Madrid.

“Bayern are not quite on par with Real Madrid. Especially in the area of central defence. Sergio Ramos and Pepe hold a huge advantage over Jerome Boateng and Holger Badstuber. So I have my doubts as to whether Bayern can compete. In midfield and attack, I see no difference in quality. The goalkeepers are the same. Iker Casillas and Manuel Neuer are both world class,” the 52-year-old told Kicker. Schuster has also said that former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso is the man to watch.