By Miguel Rapetti
08 May 2024, 17:34 PM EDT
The King of the Champions League did it again. Regardless of the opponent’s difficulty, whether or not they are behind on the scoreboard, showing good or bad football, Real Madrid in Europe always achieves the feat. And this Wednesday it could not be any other way with the 2-1 victory of the Merengues against Bayern Munich to be able to dictate their presence in a new final of the competition in which they are already the top winner.
A double from Joselu Matos in less than three minutes was enough for Real Madrid to overcome Alphonse Davis’ initial goal and seal the tie 4-3 at a Santiago Bernabéu filled with more than 80,000 fans.
Despite Real Madrid’s dominance and home field, the first dangerous opportunity was for Bayern with a counterattack led by Jamal Musiala, which filtered for Serge Gnabry and the German launched a powerful cross that Harry Kane could not reach.
However, a few minutes later came the Merengue reaction and one of the clearest of the game when Real Madrid in the 13th minute took advantage of a confusion in a throw-in to execute quickly and the play ended with a tunnel assist that Vinícius Jr. finished off and He crashed into the vertical, after a millimeter intervention by Manuel Neuer, who later also stopped the rebound that ended up at Rodrygo’s feet.
After the two opportunities, the game fell into a lethargy in which the two teams made little attempts on goal and dedicated themselves to circulating the ball in the middle of the field. Only a chance from Kane that Lunin cleared could have opened the scoring.
By the 40th minute, Real Madrid was more on the court and a cross from Vinícius Jr. that went inward was repelled almost at the goal line to preserve the tie in the first half.
The second half came with another intensity on the part of both clubs and again it was Kane and Vinícius who were the most incisive.
At first Kane warned with a long pass to Alphonse Davies that deflected off Carvajal and almost ended the goal against and minutes later three overflows from the left by Vinícius Jr. did not find Valverde, Rodrygo and Bellingham respectively facing the goal.
With Real Madrid on top of Bayern, it was Manuel Neuer who dressed as a hero by repelling up to three direct shots courtesy of Rodrygo, from a free kick, and two interceptions by Vinícius Jr., the most active in the match.
They paid dearly for Real Madrid’s lack of success in the 67th minute when a through pass from Kane ended at the feet of Davies, who cut in from the left and with his less skilled leg took an unstoppable shot straight into the back of the net for the 0-1.
Real Madrid’s reaction came immediately, but it did so with controversy when a short corner was placed in the area by Fede Valverde and although the ball culminated in a goal, it was annulled due to a previous foul by Nacho Fernández on Joshua Kimmich.
But since Real Madrid is always nicknamed the king of the Champions League for a reason, the DNA that identifies them appeared and in the 88th minute, with the team completely withdrawn, Neuer, who had been the ‘Berlin Wall’, made a serious mistake by releasing the ball after a shot by Vinícius so that Joselu, who had entered from the bench, equalized the actions.
And like someone who hits once, hits twice, three minutes later, Real Madrid’s overwhelm closed the game with a pass from Brahim Díaz to Antonio Rüdiger, which Joselu again closed so that the hubbub at the Santiago Bernabéu exploded with the score 2-1.
In the end there was room for controversy with an offside by Bayern Munich in a play that ended in a goal by Mattijs De Ligt in the 15th minute of replacement but it remained an anecdote and after the final whistle Real Madrid managed to access their sixth final in the last 11 years.
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