Munich. A European ‘Classic’ that lives up to expectations. Bayern Munich and Real Madrid tied (2-2) this Tuesday at the Allianz Arena in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, with Vinicius scoring a double for the whites.
In a duel on the limit, with stretches of the game for both teams, the Brazilian’s goals (minutes 24 and 83, penalty) were countered by those of Leroy Sané (53) and Harry Kane (57, penalty).
It was the fourth consecutive match without defeat for Real Madrid at the Allianz Arena. In the ‘semi’ of 2014 he signed a foundational 4-0 that helped him break the jinx in the Bavarian capital – he had never won – and was the launching pad for a new golden decade, with five Champions Leagues added to his showcase since then. .
Now they must make good on this tie next Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabéu to be able to reach the final on June 1 at Wembley, against the winner of Borussia Dortmund-PSG.
“We always want to win, but we know that this competition is like that. You can’t give away balls. We know that with the fans we will give everything to go to London,” analyzed Vinicius, voted best player of the match.
“We have it in our hands. We would have liked to win, in the face of the match, we deserved to leave as winners. Now for the return, the winner in the final,” said local goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer.
Initial harassment
In a red cauldron – 75,000 spectators – that included a spectacular tifo by the legend Franz Beckenbauer in the background, Bayern came out in a rush and cornered Real Madrid, unable to string together three passes during the initial quarter of an hour.
Afp’s photo
Harry Kane and Leroy Sané made and wasted the initial three bullets (1, 6 and 7).
Especially painful for the Bavarians was the first, at 42 seconds, with a miraculous Andriy Lunin when he saved Sané’s point-blank shot with his leg.
The king of Europe did not flinch, bravely enduring the local gale, which dissipated without reward.
“I think that in the first half we defended with little intensity, but at our best moment, at the beginning of the second half, two scored against us, they showed their best version and we didn’t,” said white coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Kroos artwork
At 20 minutes the game was already Toni Kroos’s, an iceberg to get the ball out of his area, but also capable of breaking the rival defense in half with a candy to Vinicius to score the first.
The Brazilian had taken the South Korean Kim Min-jae to the center of the field to feint with his body and be left alone against Neuer for the whites’ first shot. Kroos had marked with his finger where he was going to put the ball and he made no mistake.
After their goal, Real Madrid played at will for a while, with solid, combinative football that, without creating many chances, was enough to keep Bayern at bay.
Already in the second half (51) Kroos was close to signing his perfect night, but his shot after a drop shot by Jude Bellingham was cleared by a stretched Neuer.
Healed, outburst of rage
Then came Bayern’s second ‘momentum’, which this time they did take advantage of. First with Sané, in a burst of rage from the 10th from the right that ended with a whip with his left foot.
Next, from the other side, came the penalty play awarded to Jamal Musiala for contact with Lucas Vázquez. Kane tricked Lunin to make it 2-1.
Afp’s photo
Between the local momentum and the new white urgencies, the game became a road runner, with Vinicius without clarity in a failure by the Bavarian defense (64) and running into Neuer (79).
With a quarter of an hour left, more fuel on the fire for the whites. Ancelotti shook up his troops by bringing in Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric and Brahim.
Then came the white penalty (82) for a challenge by Min-Jae on Rodrygo, almost transparent until then. His ‘compadre’ Vinicius did not fail from the spot to score a beautiful 2-2.
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– 2024-05-07 15:39:11
