Madrid Labeled European Football Capital As Real And Atletico mMintain Final Hopes

*Nemer and Messi

 Real Madrid's 1-0 win at home to Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday night opens up the possibility that the Spanish capital could indeed be the "Capital of European football".
"The capital of European football" was how sectors of the Spanish media were describing Madrid on Tuesday as both Atletico and Real Madrid prepared for their respective semifinals.
Tuesday saw an invasion of supporters into the city as 3,000 Chelsea fans were in town for their semifinal against Atletico Madrid, while the vanguard of the 5,000 Bayern Munich fans who were in the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night also began to arrive.
Mix that with the thousands of Atletico and Real Madrid fans in town and the result was a lot of singing and a lot of beer drinking and a lot of police keeping watch in case anything unwanted happened.
Fortunately for all concerned no serious incidents were reported and now the dust has settled Spain is waking up to the possibility that both Atletico and Real just might be travelling to Lisbon together on May 24th.
For that to become reality a lot still has to happen: Atletico Madrid travel to Chelsea's Stamford Bridge on the back of a 0-0 draw in the first leg against an ultra-defensive Chelsea.
That result probably leaves the English side as favorites, but a goal from the Spaniards would leave a Chelsea side who will play with a substitute goalkeeper, and who lack a "killer" striker needing to score twice.
Real Madrid also have the advantage of not having conceded at home and although they were outplayed at times by Bayern Munich, who had around 70 percent of the possession in the Bernabeu, the fact is that Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Angel Di Maria will fancy their chances of hitting Bayern on the break as they did on Wednesday.
An away goal for Real Madrid would leave Bayern needing to score three times and for all of the atmosphere in the Allianz Arena, that would not be easy.
The last time the Champions League saw an all-Spanish final was in 2000 when Real Madrid beat Valencia in Paris, now not just an all-Spain affair, but an all-Madrid final is a very distinct possibility.
However, don't get too carried away just yet, the two sides have already met four times in domestic competition this season and none of those meetings could be described as a "classic", as physical play and gamesmanship have come to the fore with each side looking to get the better of their neighbor.