Jupp Heynckes says Real Madrid should worry about Robert Lewandowski just as much as Bayern Munich will be focused on stopping Cristiano Ronaldo in Wednesdayâs Champions League semi-final first leg.
âCristiano has had an incredible career, but we have Robert Lewandowski, who has scored 38 goals, so the question should be asked who will stop him?â said Bayern coach Heynckes.
The German champions host holders Real in a crunch clash of European powerhouses at the Allianz Arena with the return leg on May 1 in Madrid.
Two of this seasonâs deadliest goalscorers will go head-to-head when Ronaldo, with 42 goals in 39 games, faces Lewandowski, who has scored 39 times in 43 matches.
Both teams will be at near full-strength, but Bayern are waiting on left-back David Alaba who has a thigh injury.
Much of the pre-match focus has been on Ronaldo, who has scored 15 goals and hit the net in each of Madridâs 10 Champions League games this season.
Ronaldo has scored nine goals in six games against Bayern, including five over two legs when Real won 6-3 on aggregate in last seasonâs quarter-finals.
âCristiano is a wonderful athlete â you can see that with the goals he scores,â said Bayern defender Jerome Boateng.
âI donât think he has any weaknesses. We can only defend against him as a team.â
Bayern have a score to settle with the Spaniards, who have won five of their last six meetings.
Real handed the Bavarians their heaviest European home defeat when they won 4-0 in Munich in the 2014 semi-finals.
Nevertheless, the record 12-time winners know they will be tested at the Allianz Arena.
âAjren Robben, Lewandowski and Franck Ribery are three very difficult players to defend against,â said Real defender Dani Carvajal.
âThey could score with any chance.â
The semi-final will also give James Rodriguez the chance to show Real what they are missing.
James has shone at Bayern since leaving Real on a two-year loan deal last July at the end of three often difficult seasons in Madrid.
âJames loves to play football, so of course heâll want to play well, but not to show me or prove me wrong,â said Real coach Zinedine Zidane.
Zidaneâs appointment as Madrid coach in January 2016 was a setback for James as the Frenchman gave him limited opportunities and often left him on the bench.
âThe only reason he went was that he wanted to play more football,â insisted Zidane, denying any tension between the pair.
Real midfielder Toni Kroos, who won the 2013 treble of Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup titles with Bayern, says the Spaniards are hungry for a third straight European crown.
âWe want to reach the final â itâs our last chance to win a title this season, as it was two years ago,â said Kroos.
âWe are highly motivated to defend our title.
âWe know it will be very difficult, but weâve already beaten Paris (Saint-Germain) and Juventus on our way here.
âExpectation levels at both clubs are similar â you set out to win every competition.
âPlaying in the Champions League is a special motivation for us, as whoever wins in the end can call themselves the best team in Europe.
âBayern will be just as hungry.
âThey are in better shape than last year and in top form, but we are here to change that.