Real Madrid recovered its best version but won again in the way that only Madrid has patented: an incredible comeback when everything seemed lost, when the opposing team was savoring its ticket to the final and its fans were already entering the air servers to Find a flight to London. That’s when a flame lights up at the Bernabéu and things happen that you would never believe. For example, Neuer, author of a memorable match, fails and Joselu appears to score the double of his life. The stars align and Madrid goes to the final. At Wembley on June 1 he will look for the Quince. Because this is the Champions League and this is Real Madrid.
This time it was the Madrid of a lifetime, nothing to do with the speculative team that was seen in the round of 16, the quarterfinals or even in the first leg of the semifinal, at the Allianz Arena.
Ancelottti did not innovate from the lineup. The planned eleven played with Tchouaméni in midfield and Rüdiger and Nacho as center backs. At Bayern there were changes compared to the first leg. Tuchel recovered De Ligt as a center back and for the midfield they played Pavlovic as a double pivot along with Laimer and Gnabry instead of Goretzka. The sacrifice was the veteran Thomas Müller, but it was a psychological bet by Tuchel because the German coach had maintained several times that Gnabry was going to score in the tie. He was not right because Gnabry retired due to a muscle injury after half an hour of play.
As in Munich, the match was one-way in the first half, but with the protagonists changed. Madrid went on the attack from the beginning and Bayern prepared for an exercise in defensive resistance.
It was immediately seen that it was a Tuchel strategy. Bayern sought at all costs to avoid Madrid’s quick transitions that penalized them so much in Germany. The Bavarians preferred to defend close to Neuer and launch quick counters. During the first half they only created one dangerous chance, a great shot by Kane in the 27th minute that was cleared by Lunin for a corner. The truth is that Bayern had very little of the ball and when Musiala or Harry Kane got hold of it it was almost always very far from the area. Marked very high by Rüdiger and Carvajal, the plays were soon aborted and Madrid lived peacefully.
Madrid played well in the first half, one of the best they have played this season. He gave fluidity to the game and the danger hovered around Neuer’s area. The goal was not seen as inevitable because it was not a siege like City’s at the Etihad, but when Madrid pushes in the Champions League and at the Bernabéu the opponent suffers.
The whites enjoyed two clear chances to score. The first was in the 14th minute in a shot by Vinícius that hit the post. Rodrygo caught the rebound but he didn’t get it right. The play started out confusing with a second ball down the field. When Carvajal took the throw, the Bavarians were still confused.
Madrid had to wait for the second until the 40th minute, a cross shot by Vinícius that Neuer took out again with a hand in a display of reflexes.
The second half began with more of the same. Without changes of players, Madrid dominated and Bayern defended orderly, brought the ball out slowly from behind and was only vertical in transitions. However, Davies, a player in Madrid’s orbit, had a shot that went high.
In the first ten minutes, Madrid had two other chances, always through Vinícius, author of a colossal game. He gave Kimmich the night. In the clearest moment, Vinícius made a great pass to Rodrygo, whose shot went just wide. Almost immediately afterward, Vinícius launched a great free-kick and Neuer took it. Two minutes later he took it out again with one hand on another Vinícius shot and another fantastic save. The night was about a memorable duel between Neuer and Vinícius.
When Madrid seemed better, Bayern’s goal came in a lethal counterattack in the 68th minute that ended in a shot by Davies into the top corner. Ancelotti immediately changed Kroos and Tchouaméni for Modric and Camavinga to add fresh legs.
The white reaction came immediately. There was an own goal by Bayern but the Polish referee annulled it when he saw on the monitor that Nacho had pushed Kimmich during the play. Then,. Ancelotti would complain. In his opinion, Kimmich jumped.
From then on it was all nerves in Madrid, but in the worst circumstances the team shows tremendous nerve. There is no team that resists being defeated more.
In ’88 the unthinkable happened. Neuer missed a ball and Joselu was there to score the tie. Joselu would score again in the 91st minute, this time with suspense, a goal validated by the VAR. Nine minutes of extra time were played and there was time for controversy. Marciniak annulled a goal against De Ligt that would have meant a tie because the linesman had previously raised the flag marking offside. Tuchel was extremely angry because in his opinion there was no such offside and the lineman had rushed. In the press room he assured that the referees had apologized to him.
By then Madrid was only celebrating. He had made another comeback for history in the Champions League and at the Bernabéu. As usual.
