Real Madrid beat a lacklustre
Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena thanks to goals from
Marcelo and
Marco Asensio. See how the first leg of their
Champions League semi-final unfolded with Express Sport.
Holders Real Madrid came from a goal down to snatch a precious 2-1 victory at wasteful Bayern Munich and carry a considerable advantage into their Champions League semi-final second leg in Spain.
Real, eyeing a third straight title, needed a 44th-minute equaliser by Marcelo against the run of play to cancel out Joshua Kimmich's opener after Bayern, chasing three trophies this season, had missed a hatful of chances.
A perfect break allowed Real substitute Marco Asensio to beat Sven Ulreich with a fine effort and grab the winner in the 57th minute.
The result was identical to last year's quarter-final first leg between the teams before Real won the return game as well on the way to the first successful Champions League title defence.
THAT’S ALL FOLKS!22:00: So we’re halfway to having a Liverpool vs Real Madrid Champions League final in Kiev next month. Join me next week where we’ll find out if they can finish the job.
21:50: Bayern Munich captain Thomas Muller: "We were too naive. We had a lot of chances and went in at 1-1, but it was 2-1 soon after the break."
21:45: Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos: "We were really solid and defended very well. We've taken the first step."
21:40: Half a dozen fans have just run on the pitch when referee Bjorn Kuipers blew his whistle. One seemed to grab Franck Ribery before he was tackled by stewards.
TWITTER ROUND-UP
Bob: All Liverpool fans are chatting about how they’ve seen nothing to worry them. Don’t understand how they haven’t realised that Real have played terribly all tournament and always, always find a way to win.
Michael: In about three years, Marcelo will return to Brazil but insist on being played as No 10, and he'll be the best No 10 in the league.
Ryan: Slow paced second semi-final tonight, not a great deal of quality at times either! Disappointing from Bayern! Real get the Job done.
Phil: Real Madrid not great at all but have a habit of getting the job done - especially against Bayern Munich.
BAYERN MUNICH 1-2 REAL MADRIDFT: Well that was a very strange night of Champions League football. Really low quality for a semi-final between two European heavyweights. Stray passes, laboured attacking and poor goalkeeping.
But Real Madrid have inflicted Bayern Munich's first home defeat of the season with goals from Marcelo and Asensio.
92: Benzema breaks and he only needs to slip Asensio through for a certain third. Instead, he dithers before playing it right where Ronaldo is offside.
90: Four minutes of added time as Bayern finally pull their finger out and start attacking with purpose.
89: You don’t often see that. Lewandowski escapes the attentions of Ramos before slicing it horribly wide with only Navas to beat.
87: Rafinha looks to make amends with a long-ranger but Ramos makes the block to save Navas from having to make an error…
85: Casemiro off, Kovacic on. Where’s the equaliser coming from? Bayern look slow and are running out of ideas.
83: Tell you what, if these sides play this poorly against Liverpool (assuming they make the final), Mohamed Salah and the gang will run riot.
80: Karim Benzema peels off his marker and thunders a low effort that Ulreich saves with his feet. 3-1 and Real Madrid could start preparing for the final in Kiev.
78: Third and final change for Bayern. Tolisso on for Javi Martinez.
77: Bayern look shattered out there. Perhaps the absence of Alaba, Vidal and Neuer might be catching up with them.
75: Disallowed goal! Ronaldo plucks it out of the sky using his arm and rifles a finish across Ulreich. It’s clearly handball but that does’t stop him throwing his toys out of the pram.
73: Nobody has a clue what Zinedine Zidane was intending with that substitution. Ribery keeps finding himself in acres of space because Vazquez, a left winger, doesn’t know what he’s supposed to be doing!
70: How aren’t Bayern Munich level?! Muller and Lewandowski are queuing up to meet Martinez’s knock-back but they end up blocking each other.
68: Carvajal’s heroics (or stupidity) led to Bayern winning themselves a corner. Right-back Carvajal finally falls to the ground and is replaced by striker Benzema.
So by my calculations, winger Lucas Vazquez will move to right-back - against Ribery…