Alvaro Arbeloa is urging Real Madrid to act as the best team in the world when Bayern Munich visit the Santiago Bernabeu for the Champions League quarter-final first leg, with Kylian Mbappe back from injury and Opta data making Bayern favourites despite Madrid’s history and strong knockout form.

Real Madrid chase a 16th Champions League crown this season after a difficult spell for trophies, having last lifted silverware in December 2024 by winning the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, and now face Bayern again in a fixture that has produced 28 major European meetings, the most-played clash in continental competition.

Arbeloa stressed that collective work will decide the tie, even with Madrid’s talent advantage, and spoke about the need for structure, concentration and team spirit against a Bayern side described as having an exceptional season, with the Bernabeu preparing for another major Champions League occasion between these long-standing rivals.

Arbeloa said: “To win in football, you have to get a lot of things right in every phase of the game,” he said. “To be a great team, you have to be very well-drilled and have that collective mindset. Perhaps that’s what I’m emphasising most to the players. We have the best players, but we must also be the best team in the world. We have to put our talent at the service of the team. A Madrid side that has always stood up to big rivals. Bayern are having an exceptional season. We know just how much they’ll push us on the pitch. Our history with Bayern is always special. The Bernabeu is set for another great Champions League night.”

Madrid enter the tie after a 2-1 defeat against Mallorca on Saturday, when Vedat Muriqi scored a stoppage-time winner, yet Arbeloa downplayed any link between that setback and the European contest, pointing to the unique pressure around a Champions League quarter-final at the Bernabeu against a familiar opponent.

Arbeloa added: “These are different matches and contexts, Arbeloa added when asked how they will bounce back. The players know exactly what lies ahead. I don’t need to warn them about anything. It’s a quarter-final against a team we have a long history with, and with the Bernabeu behind us. I think we’re all aware of that.”

Real Madrid have won all four Champions League knockout matches this season, and Arbeloa could become only the third manager to open a campaign with five straight knockout victories in the competition, matching Hansi Flick’s 2019-20 Bayern run and Luis Enrique’s 2014-15 Barcelona sequence.

Opta’s pre-match supercomputer model places Bayern as favourites for the first leg, giving the German side a 42.7% chance of victory compared with 33.2% for Madrid, figures that contrast with Madrid’s rich Champions League record but reflect Bayern’s domestic strength and the difficulty of this quarter-final pairing.

Key Champions League numbers for this tie are shown below.

Kylian Mbappe has transformed Madrid’s Champions League attack, scoring 13 goals in nine games at a rate of one every 56 minutes, a figure bettered in a single campaign, among players with at least 10 goals, only by Erling Haaland’s 55 minutes per goal for Borussia Dortmund in 2019-20.

Mbappe recently recovered from injury to strengthen Madrid before the season’s climax, and Arbeloa welcomed the extra attacking threat while accepting that the team must adapt tactically when Mbappe replaces Brahim Diaz, given their contrasting profiles and movements in advanced positions.

On Mbappe’s role, Arbeloa said: “It’s clear that Mbappe has different qualities to Brahim [Diaz], so we’ll have to play in a different way,” he said of the Frenchman. “But I’m delighted to have such outstanding players at our disposal. Mbappe came here to play this sort of match. The only thing that matters to me is what I think, and it’s an extraordinary stroke of luck to have a player like Mbappe in the team. I put myself in the shoes of the defenders who have to face Madrid.”

The build-up has also featured a focus on preparation, with Real Madrid sharing footage before the Bayern meeting.

With Madrid seeking another Champions League title, Bayern aiming to justify favourite status, Mbappe returning at full speed and Arbeloa insisting on a collective mindset, the quarter-final first leg at the Bernabeu brings together history, form and pressure in a fixture that often shapes the direction of the competition.