The China Mail - Bayern veteran Neuer primed for one final battle with rivals Real

Though not the risk-hungry, 'sweeper keeper' of his prime, the two-time Champions League winner was outstanding in Bayern's 2-1 first-leg victory in Madrid.

Named man of the match, Neuer made nine saves and succeeded in keeping Real's danger men Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior at bay, for the most part.

Neuer, who turned 40 in March, has a contract in Munich until the end of the season.

Bayern seem willing to offer their long-time 'keeper and captain another year, but Neuer has repeatedly said he is still weighing up his future.

The 2014 World Cup winner has struggled with muscle injuries in the past two seasons.

Normally the first name on the teamsheet, this campaign he has missed 11 games as he battles persistent calf muscle strains.

Having already ruled himself out of World Cup contention this summer, ending the season with a third Champions League crown alongside a record-equalling 13th Bundesliga title would be a perfect sign-off.

While Bayern have always sat atop German football, Neuer's arrival alongside other modern greats including Thomas Mueller, Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger helped push the club into the stratosphere.

Bayern had never won more than three Bundesliga titles in a row before Neuer signed in 2011 but have only missed out twice in the 15 subsequent seasons.

Two of Bayern's six Champions League titles have come with Neuer between the sticks.

Even after 15 years, Bayern are still not immune to Neuer's brilliance. CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen last week said: "We had something Real didn't -- our world-class goalkeeper, our x-factor."

Centre-back Jonathan Tah asked reporters, "are you surprised?", and added: "He simply exudes something special, especially with the saves he keeps making.

"You shouldn't take it for granted, but for him it's an everyday occurrence."

Neuer's spectacular saves make highlight reels, but his leadership has been crucial as Bayern have rebuilt from 2023-24's third-place Bundesliga finish, to once again contend for the Champions League.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany, in just his second season managing a club with Champions League ambitions, said so after the first leg.

"Manu only has to say one sentence and he brings order to the team. That's why his role to me as a leader is just as important as what he does on the pitch," Kompany said, adding Neuer "made things much easier for me at the beginning than I thought".

- 'Brutally difficult' -

Heading into Wednesday's return leg, Neuer is the only current Bayern player to have experienced victory over two legs against Madrid. Since getting past the Spaniards in the 2012 semi-finals, Bayern had not even won a match against Los Blancos in their eight meetings -- up until last week.

And the Gelsenkirchen native will have even more motivation to get across the line against Real this time around. Two years ago, with Bayern ahead against Los Blancos in the dying stages of their semi-final return leg, Neuer spilt a Vinicius shot which Joselu tapped in to level things up.

Minutes later, Joselu scored again and Bayern were eliminated, with Real going on to win the title at Wembley.

Despite their first-leg lead, Bayern know their opponents well -- with 29 games between the sides, no European fixture has been played more -- and remain wary of the Champions League specialists.

Real suffered another La Liga setback on Friday and are now nine points behind Barcelona, but Joshua Kimmich recognised that the 15-time winners can turn it on when they have the Champions League anthem ringing in their ears.

"It doesn't matter at all what form Kylian Mbappe and his teammates are in. When it's the Champions League, they perform," Kimmich said Saturday.

"We know exactly who we are playing against. It's a brutally difficult task," Leon Goretzka said the same day. "We know how quickly they can create scoring opportunities. We know what to expect."

A.Zhang--ThChM