Real Madrid faced off against Bayern Munich in the second leg of their semifinal tie. It was another open and entertaining encounter which kept fans on the edge of their seats till the final whistle. It finished 2-2 in the match and 3-2 in Real’s favor who now advance to the final in Kiev.
1st Half:
- The game started with Bayern immediately on the front foot. With quick passing and good movement off the ball the German champions immediately started to pressure Real on both wings. They tested makeshift right back Lucas Vazquez in particular and tried to make opportunities through his flank.
- The early goal Bayern were looking for, however, came from Marcelo’s left side. After a good move, the ball fell to Bayern’s goal scorer in the first leg, Joshua Kimmich, who made no mistake from about six yards out.
- Even after the goal, Bayern kept their foot on the gas and continued to dominate possession against a Real side which was struggling to get out of the blocks.
- Real did grab possession for a few minutes after the early onslaught and made it count. After a patient passing move, Marcelo played in a pin point accurate cross for Karim Benzema, who headed in unmarked at the far post to restore Real’s one goal lead.
- The rest of the half led to chances at both ends but Bayern were still the more likely to score. However, just like the first leg Bayern wasted quite a few good chances with Robert Lewandowski in particular guilty of profligacy in front of the goal.
- Bayern also had two penalty appeals waived off. The first was a weak one for a challenge in the box but the second one was more worthy of debate. After a corner, Joshua Kimmich’s cross struck the hand of Marcelo. The referee waived off appeals from the visiting players as, in his eyes, Marcelo was too close to Kimmich when the ball was played and the touch of the hand was unintentional.
2nd Half:
- The second half started with Bayern making a ridiculous blunder. Bayern gifted Real the two goal lead they were craving when Corentin Tolisso passed back to Sven Ulreich, who started to go with his hands but then realized he couldn’t – so stuck his leg out – and the ball flew past him and Karim Benzema tapped into an empty net.
- Bayern didn’t let their heads drop, though, and continued on in their search for a winner. They continued to press and David Alaba had a deflected shot excellently saved by the on form Navas.
- Ronaldo could have buried the tie but, unexpectedly, failed to do so. After having a shot at goal, Ronaldo was given another brilliant opportunity to score after a peach of a cross from Marcelon. However, Ronaldo shot over from close range.
- Bayern’s persistence paid off for them and they grabbed another goal to level it up on the night. The goal came through James Rodriguez who rifled in his shot through Keylor Navas’s legs after having his initial effort blocked. The goal meant that Bayern had to score just one more to move on to the final by virtue of more away goals.
- The guests kept on creating chances but missed all of them. It was the story of the tie for them, truth be told. Real rode their luck and used all of their quality as well as match intelligence to close out the tie. Substitutions, time wasting and good defending meant that Real escaped unscathed from the wave of German attacks.
- Real now move on to their third consecutive Champions League final.
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