MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are back at it in the Champions League, meeting in the quarterfinals on Tuesday for their sixth knockout-stage meeting in 14 seasons.
Bayern is looking to turn its fortunes around against Madrid after the Spanish powerhouse won four of their five two-leg matchups since the 2011-12 season.
It happened once in the quarterfinals and three times in the semifinals, most recently in 2024. Bayern won in the 2012 semifinals after a penalty shootout.
Bayern striker Harry Kane missed the team's Bundesliga match last weekend but is expected to be available for the game at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium after he trained with the squad on Monday. Coach Vincent Kompany said he will wait until closer to the game to decide on whether to use the England captain.
Bayern eliminated Atalanta in the last 16, while Madrid got past Manchester City.
Bayern is unbeaten in its last 13 games in all competitions, with 11 wins, while Madrid is coming off a 2-1 loss at Mallorca on Saturday that hurt its La Liga title hopes.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe reacts during a La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Real Madrid in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior in action in front of Mallorca's Pablo Maffeo during a La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Real Madrid in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
LONDON (AP) — A senior member of the British government said Tuesday that Ye should “absolutely not” play the Wireless Festival as the performer offered to meet members of the U.K.’s Jewish community and show he has changed since provoking outrage with antisemitic statements.
The rapper formerly known as Kanye West is booked to perform in front of around 150,000 revelers over July 10-12 at the open-air festival in London’s Finsbury Park.
Organizers are under mounting pressure from sponsors and politicians to cancel the gigs by the rapper, who has drawn widespread condemnation for making antisemitic remarks and voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler.
Last year, he released a song called “Heil Hitler” and advertised a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website. The 48-year-old apologized in January with a letter, published as a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal. He said his bipolar disorder led him to fall into “a four-month long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.”
Wireless sponsors Pepsi, Rockstar Energy and Diageo have pulled out of the festival since Ye was announced as the headliner, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the booking “deeply concerning.”
In a statement Tuesday, Ye, who changed his name in 2021, said he “would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the U.K. in person, to listen.
“I know words aren’t enough — I’ll have to show change through my actions,” he said. “If you’re open, I’m here.”
Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said the group would be willing to meet with the musician if he pulled out of the festival.
“The Jewish community will want to see a genuine remorse and change before believing that the appropriate place to test this sincerity is on the main stage at the Wireless Festival,” Rosenberg said.
Organizer Festival Republic stood by Ye. In a statement issued Monday, managing director Melvin Benn urged people to offer the performer “forgiveness and hope.”
“We are not giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature, only to perform the songs that are currently played on the radio stations in our country and the streaming platforms in our country and listened to and enjoyed by millions,” the statement said.
U.K. Health Secretary Wes Streeting dismissed the organizers’ statement as “absurd” and said Ye should “absolutely not” perform at Wireless. He said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is considering whether to ban the rapper from entering the U.K.
Benn acknowledged that Mahmood had the power to revoke Ye's visa to come to Britain.
“If she does, she does, and then the issue is over,” he told the BBC on Tuesday.
A representative for Ye didn’t reply to a request for comment.
FILE - Kanye West appears at the 67th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 2, 2025. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Kanye West, who changed his name to Ye in 2021, performs at the Coachella Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on April 20, 2019. . (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)
