Real Madrid came from behind to narrowly beat Bayern Munich 2-1 at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night and go into their Champions League match next week with the advantage in the semi-final tie.
Zinedine Zidane’s side were underwhelming to say the least in Germany, but still managed to come from behind to score two away goals that could prove crucial when they host Bayern at the Santiago Bernabeu next Tuesday in the second leg.
Bayern, who had several opportunities to score in front of their own fans, went ahead in the 28th minute through Joshua Kimmich’s super strike.
But after Marcelo scored a superb goal of his own in the 44th minute, Marco Asensio came on for the second half and netted the winner following an error from Bayern’s Rafinha.
The score-line means Bayern will need to score two goals without reply in Spain next week if they want to reach the Champions League final.
The clash at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday provided current Bayern boss Jupp Heynckes with the chance to face his former side, who he led to Champions League victory against a Juventus side featuring Zinedine Zidane in 1998.
Despite their domestic success in Germany this season, Bayern were still not favourites to triumph over a Real side who had knocked Juventus out in the last round in dramatic style.
Yet it was the Bundesliga giants who were firmly in control at the Allianz Arena despite the first-half exits of Arjen Robben and Jerome Boateng to injury, and they deservedly took the lead in the 28th minute through Kimmich.
Marcelo was caught out of position on the left flank, which allowed Bayern to launch a counter-attack that saw on-loan Real midfielder James Rodriguez pass the ball to Kimmich who, after making a fine run, fired a powerful effort from a tight angle that flew past Keylor Navas.
Robert Lewandowski then appealed for a penalty after being hauled down in the area by Raphael Varane but, after nothing was given and after Mats Hummels volleyed a great chance over the bar, Real equalised moments before the break.
Marcelo made amends for his error in the build-up to Bayern’s opener by driving a low, powerful effort from outside the box past Sven Ulreich that brought the visitors back into the clash.
And Zidane’s men capitalised on Bayern missing chance after chance when, in the 57th minute, Rafinha’s ball straight to Real ended in substitute Asensio scoring to hand the Spanish side their second away goal of the evening.
There was still time for Heynckes’ team to restore parity, but Thomas Muller and Lewandowski got in each other’s way to prevent what should have been a tap-in from Javi Martinez’s header.
Cristiano Ronaldo had been kept quiet all night, but he thought he had a goal in the 70th minute when he fired in a long ball although the referee rightly chalked his effort off for handball despite fierce protests from the Portuguese star.
The game lacked any of the entertainment and quality fans saw between Liverpool and Roma a day earlier and, after Lewandowski missed another one-on-one chance with Navas, Real secured a comeback win that hands them the advantage going into the second leg.
(Evening Standard)
