Vinicius Junior drew first blood, then had the final say from twelve yards as Real Madrid were predictably resilient in Munich to keep their Champions League semi-final clash with Bayern finely poised at two goals apiece before next week’s return leg at the Bernabeu. That was despite being second best for large periods during an action-packed clash between two giants on Tuesday.
Madrid keep pace with hectic hosts
Bayern 2-2 Real
Sane 53, Kane 57 (pen) — Vinicius 24, 83 (pen)
REAL Madrid did what they always do, soaking up pressure and duly pouncing when the opportunity to strike presents itself. Make a mistake, and they will punish you.
Bayern’s departing head coach Thomas Tuchel was an unhappy man on the touchline, while Aurelien Tchouameni insisted Los Blancos would make the requisite adjustments ready for a home second leg tie next Wednesday at the Bernabeu.
Buoyed by their boisterous fans, it’ll be intriguing to see how they fare against the various threats Bayern possess – something they couldn’t contain for sustained periods here. It’s now the most important game of their respective seasons.
The Bundesliga giants almost got off to the perfect start after 40-odd seconds with a neatly-worked move, Harry Kane’s incisive pass to an overlapping Leroy Sane saw the former Manchester City winger go through on-goal before Andriy Lunin denied his sidefooted effort with an outstretched leg save. That foreshadowed a busy half.
Federico Valverde’s fast-thinking and positioning stopped a short corner from potentially breaking the deadlock after five minutes, Jamal Musiala sliding through Joshua Kimmich on the byline before the midfielder’s timely defensive intervention.
From the subsequent set-piece, Kane couldn’t strike the ball as cleanly as he would’ve liked and Lunin comfortably saved.
That constant onslaught persisted a minute later, the Kane-Sane combo again in full force as the hosts seamlessly transitioned from defence-to-attack before the latter rushed his decision and blazed an effort high over the bar.
Musiala had a pair of hopeful snapshot attempts in the opening 15 minutes, Thomas Muller threatened in the area too and you couldn’t help but wonder whether Bayern would live to rue their early dominance as the camera panned to visiting manager Carlo Ancelotti on the touchline. Eight minutes later, they had their answer.
Vinicius Jr was savouring the moment in celebration after Toni Kroos – who spent eight years as a Bayern player – produced a defence-splitting pass to leave Kim Min-jae static in central defence as the Brazilian winger’s run wasn’t just spotted, it was met with pinpoint accuracy. The sort of assist many contemporaries can’t conjure.
Calmly slotting beyond Manuel Neuer into the bottom corner, the legendary 38-year-old stood little chance. One shot, one goal. Bayern had seven to that point and it’d take another two before they levelled, seven minutes into the second-half.
Released down the right-hand side by Konrad Laimer’s pass, Sane sharply ran at Ferland Mendy and left the nine-cap France international in his rearview mirror, before firing low and hard beyond Lunin at the Ukrainian’s near post to belatedly snatch the goal his tireless efforts had deserved – it felt inevitable they’d respond.
Lucas Vazquez, fortunate not to give away a spot-kick for tangling with Sane late in the first-half, hadn’t learned his lesson and bit a second time – a marauding Musiala proving too tricky to handle – as the Spaniard was made to rue his defensive timing, Kane calmly sending Lunin the wrong way to complete a four-minute turnaround.
Yet still it felt like this game still had goals waiting, potential storylines to unfurl. The highly-popular CBS panel highlighted Jude Bellingham’s dark arts, much to Thierry Henry’s displeasure, as he unsuccessfully tried to put his international teammate off.
Musiala’s heavy touch in his own half was pounced upon by Tchouameni and Real almost equalised six minutes later, but for Eric Dier’s well-timed block on Vinicius’ effort before Laimer cleared the danger at the second time of asking.
Kane had a deflected effort trickle wide of the far post after build-up play between Musiala and fullback Noussair Mazraoui, with his former Tottenham teammate Dier heading a good chance into Lunin’s gloves from the subsequent corner.
Neuer made himself big at the near post and thwarted Vinicius after Bellingham’s replacement Luka Modric found the Brazilian with a beautifully-weighted pass, and a similarly searching lofted ball set the wheels in motion for the visitors’ leveller.
Rodrygo was celebrating on the turf, triumphantly pumping his fists as if he had equalised himself after Kim Min-Jae’s eventful evening worsened in the final ten minutes — getting the wrong side of the 23-year-old before hauling him down inside the area, allowing Vinicius Jr to have the game’s final say from 12 yards.
Picture source: Getty Images
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