MADRID — Vincent Kompany's Bayern Munich visits Real Madrid on Tuesday in the Champions League quarterfinals high on confidence and looking like Europe's most complete side, bolstered by the likely return of superstar striker Harry Kane.

Record 15-time winner Madrid, meanwhile, has endured a difficult season, plagued by inconsistency, but has made a habit of pulling off the unexpected on European nights.

Just as it seemed its well of Champions League magic was running dry, Madrid produced its best performance of the season to crush Pep Guardiola's Manchester City in the last 16.

Despite Madrid's prestige and troupe of attacking stars — Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham included, as well as City hat-trick hero Federico Valverde — Bayern is arguably the favorite to lift the trophy.

"It would be presumptuous to assume that we'll definitely advance," said honorary Bayern president Uli Hoeness. "But we haven't had such great chances in terms of the playing quality as we have this year in a long time."

Kane, who has scored 48 goals in 40 appearances across all competitions this season, missed Bayern's battling 3-2 Bundesliga win at Freiburg on Saturday with an ankle issue.

"He'd play in a wheelchair," said Bayern midfielder Joshua Kimmich, while Kompany added that he had "a feeling" that the England striker would be ready.

With Michael Olise and Luis Diaz joining Kane in attack, Kompany's side plays an aggressive, high-pressing style which helped it demolish Italian side Atalanta 10-2 on aggregate in the last 16.

Bayern came from two goals down to beat Freiburg, and match-winner Lennart Karl said that such fighting spirit was crucial heading into the Madrid clash.

"It gives us a lot of confidence. It was very important — we actually feel unbeatable at the moment," he said, with Bayern's last defeat coming in January, 14 matches ago.

In that same period, Madrid has lost four times, with coach Alvaro Arbeloa struggling to find the right balance when all his superstars are fit, just like Xabi Alonso and Carlo Ancelotti before him.

"They might not be playing the best football, but they are outstanding in terms of experience," noted Hoeness.

Bernabeu factor

Madrid fell to a disappointing defeat at Mallorca in La Liga on Saturday, leaving it seven points behind rival Barcelona in the Spanish title race.

Arbeloa brushed off the loss and said it would have no bearing on his team's performance against Bayern, in the club's favored competition.

"I know what my players are capable of, I know they understand the importance of Tuesday's game,"Arbeloa told reporters.

"The demand on the team will be at a maximum, and I know the support that Madrid fans will offer us — with them, everything is easier."

Bayern is well aware of the impact of Madrid's supporters on big European nights at the Santiago Bernabeu, which, along with the weight of history and sublime individual quality, helps Los Blancos pull off remarkable results even when the odds are against them.

"It's the stadium and the fans who, together with the team, transform into a hurricane that sweeps over the opponent," said Germany and Bayern legend-turned-power-broker Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

"You need nerves of steel, you have to stay calm, and you have to be mentally prepared ... it's not just an ordinary game. It will be the toughest test."

Two Bayern players who understand that more than most are goalkeepers Manuel Neuer and Sven Ulreich, who have both cracked in the Bernabeu pressure cooker before.

In the 2018 semifinal Ulreich went to pick up a back pass before suddenly realizing his mistake and let it run past him, with Karim Benzema tapping into the empty net.

Madrid went on to win that tie, as it has in all of the last four knockout matches against Bayern.

In each of those years, it went on to lift the trophy.

In the 2024 semifinals, Madrid forward Joselu struck twice in the dying embers of the second leg, the first after a Neuer handling error, to send Bayern crashing out.

No teams have faced each other more in the competition, with Tuesday's match the 29th occasion Madrid will meet Bayern.

The German giant last eliminated Los Blancos in 2012, but believes that, this year, it finally has the quality to rewrite the narrative of the last decade.