Once the Champions League quarter-final draw was made, the magnitude of one particular tie wasn't lost on Bayern Munich's Xabi Alonso.
The former Real Madrid midfielder gets a chance to face his old club in what is likely to be 180 minutes of attritional warfare for the right to advance to the semi-finals.
"Wow! It's going to be a great quarter-final between two historical clubs," Alonso said in a press conference on Friday.
"It's a special game for me, of course."I'm happy to be able to play again in Madrid, although I know that at the [Estadio Santiago] Bernabeu it's always complicated.
"First we play at home and we have a good record at the Allianz Arena which we want to keep.
"We will be prepared when we go to Madrid."
