Real Madrid, once again starting in defensive wall mode, earned a valuable draw (2-2) at the Allianz Arena in Munich against a Bayern that pushed hard at times in a match in which the whites had their alternatives and They came out alive thanks to a double from Vinícius. The Bernabéu will decide who goes to the final.
Madrid presented the expected lineup in Munich, with Rüdiger and Nacho as center backs and with Tchouaméni in the midfield, which sent Camavinga to the bench. Up top, as in Manchester, Rodrygo began to occupy the left and Vinícius evolved in the center.
At Bayern, De Ligt finally did not even make the squad, but Tuchel recovered almost all of his troops, with Gnabry and Upamecano on the bench. The Bavarian team may have had a bad season, but at Allianz and in the Champions League they are always a powerful team, which pushes and pushes until they lock you in your area. The opponent knows that he is going to suffer, a lot, especially at the beginning of each half.
Yesterday Madrid had a significant loss due to cards, Dani Carvajal. Lucas Vázquez played in his place, who does not defend the same. Bayern was very aware and tried to do damage with a very active Sané passing Caín’s ball to the Galician side.
Already in the first minute Bayern could have scored, which came out much more intense than the whites. Kane filtered a great pass to Sané who did not score because Lunin became huge and covered the goal with his foot. The Ukrainian, who was so insecure in the classic, seems to be getting bigger in the Champions League. The first fifteen minutes were torture for Madrid, similar to what they suffered at the Etihad.
Bayern had up to four fairly clear finishes but did not score because they lacked finesse in their finishing. Musiala and Sané entered again and again on the wings, well helped by Kane, a nine who, like Benzema, tends to drop out of the area to participate a lot in the game.
From that quarter of an hour onwards, Madrid began to show its head a little, timidly crossing the center of the field. At first, it was not dangerous but at least it was raining less and the game was even because it was impossible for Bayern to maintain that devilish pace. It is also in Bayern’s genes to attack hard.
As soon as Tuchel’s team relaxed, Madrid made them pay dearly. In the 23rd minute Kroos made a masterful pass for Vinícius who ran between the centre-backs and beat Neuer with a close shot against the post. The Madrid players went to hug Kroos before Vinícius. It was Kroos’ ninth assist of the season.
Bayern is not a team that falters at the first opportunity and they tried to continue their way, but Madrid had grown significantly after the goal and began to dominate the midfield for a few minutes, which made Bayern the a team that was now looking for the counterattack.
Bayern did not have another chance in the rest of the first half until the 41st minute when Nacho committed a foul on Musiala on the edge of the area. Harry Kane’s very hard shot went to Lunin’s side.
The second half began with no changes for Madrid and one for Bayern: Guerreiro for Goretzka. Bayern did not come out as aggressive and the whites began to feel comfortable. In the 50th, Vinícius gave a great pass to Kroos and he shot with a screw, but Neuer took the ball from him with a changed hand.
From a possible 0-2 it went to 1-1 in the 52nd because Sané, who was now playing on the right, left everyone in a fast counterattack and took a shot that surpassed Lunin’s stretch. In the 55th minute everything got worse for Madrid when Lucas Vázquez tripped Musiala inside the area. Kane cheated Lunin on the throw.
Madrid needed to attack. Camavinga entered for Nacho. Madrid tried to put the game together, but Bayern seemed much closer to the third goal. Then Modric came in for Bellingham, who had not been at his level, and Brahim for Kroos. It was Vinícius who had a great chance, in ’79, again aborted by a great Neuer.
When things were at their worst, Madrid brought out its competitive gene and tied after a play by Vinícius that ended in a penalty from Kim Min-jae to Rodrygo. Vinícius scored and made it 2-2. The Bernabéu will decide in a week.
