Match report: Bayern Munich 1-2 Real Madrid
Sid Lowe was our man typing his fingers to the bone in the Allianz Arena press box and has sent this on-the-whistle report for your reading pleasure. Tune into the Guardian’s Football Weekly podcast tomorrow for more discussion on both this week’s Champions League semi-final first legs and a look ahead at the weekend’s Premier League action.
And here’s Nick Ames’s take on how Bayern suffered a repeat of their quarter-final disappointment last year, including similar levels of profligacy.
If you’re not already a subscriber to Football Weekly, where have you been for the past 11 years? Here’s Monday’s episode for a taster, which features a tense row between myself and Barney Ronay ... in which he was wrong about everything.
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An interesting email ...
From Øyvind Røed: “Norwegian TV just showed something interesting for the 1-0 goal,” he writes. “Marcelo was nowhere to be seen because he was busy collecting the ball after it ran out for a Bayern goal kick. The Bayern ball boys were faster and by the time Marcelo returned to the pitch the ball was already in midfield.” Tyroleon hats off to the Bayern ball boys for their quick thinking in that case.
A quite night from Cristiano Ronaldo: Apart from one early decoy run, Real’s star player contributed little or nothing tonight. He had one wild shot early in the second half which threatened to take out a corner flag, then moaned when he was correctly penalised for handball after controlling a pass from deep with his arm when he looked clear through on goal.
Some shenanigans at the Allianz Arena
At the final whistle, six or seven fans ran onto the pitch, with one of them making a beeline for Franck Ribery. I’m not sure if he was after a souvenir jersey, or wished to verbally or physically assault the Bayern winger. whatever it was, we’ll never know because the invader was tackled by several stewards before he reached his target. To be fair, along with Joshua Kimmich and James Rodriguez, Ribery was one of very few Bayern Munich players to emerge from tonight’s debacle with any credit.
Full-time: Bayern Munich 1-2 Real Madrid
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeep! It’s all over at the Allianz Arena, where Real have won their sixth consecutive game against Bayern Munich. They take two away goals home to the Bernabeu, where Bayern Munich will need to score at least two goals to beat them. Stay tuned for post-match reaction and the great Sid Lowe’s on-the-whistle match report. I’ll be intrigued to see what he made of a match that was astonishingly low on quality, but none the poorer for all that.
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90+4 min: Ribery attempts to drill a low cross towards Thomas Muller in the Real penalty area, but Navas gets down to intercept.
90+3 min: Arjen Robben?!?!?! Apologies - he left the field after seven or eight minutes. It was Franck Ribery.
90+1 min: We’re into the first of four minutes of added time and Bayern Munich are on the attack. It breaks down when Arjen Robben dawdles on the ball and Real Madrid win possession back and gallop off on the counter.
89 min: Kovacic drives forward with the ball at his feet and is brought down by Thiago, who takes a yellow card for the team.
88min: Robert Lewandowski, who may well be a Real Madrid player next season, sends the kind of finish you’d expect him to slot home with his eyes closed wide after being put through on goal by a great Corento Tolisso through ball.
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85 min: Ribery lofts a cross into the Real Madrid penalty area and instead of heading it clear, Marcelo opts to larrup the ball straight up into the air. This is comically inept stuff - like everyone involved has had a few pints, or collectively got together before the game and agreed to wear their boots on the wrong feet ... just for a laugh.
83 min: Real Madrid make their final substitution: Casemiro off, Lucas Kovacic on. We won’t be seeing Gareth Bale in action tonight.
Look at Marcelo trap this ball like Trump trapped Kanye's soul pic.twitter.com/gth8qlY4QV
— Nooruddean (@BeardedGenius) April 25, 2018
80 min: Just 10 minutes plus add-ons to go and Bayern are in dire need of at least one more goal to take to the Bernabeu. They win a corner when Vazquez chests a Ribery cross out of play. Nothing comes of it.
78 min: Casemiro is booked for a late tackle on James Rodriguez, a minute or two after Benzema had forced a save from Ulreich from close range. Now Benzema is limping - it’s beginning to resemble a battle scene from Game of Thrones out there.
76 min: Bayern Munich make their third substitution of the night. Javi Martinez makes way nursing a head injury and looking very dazed and confused, box-to-box midfielder Corentin Tolisso replaces him.
74 min: I should clarify that since coming on for Dani Carvajal, Karim Benzema has not gone in at right-back with the onerous job of shackling Franck Ribery. Lucas Vasquez has been given that plum gig.
72 min: Cristiano Ronaldo controls a ball from deep with his arm on the edge of the Bayern penalty area and is penalised for hand-ball when clean through on goal. Looking highly indignant and on the verge of tears, he claims the ball hit his shoulder. Replays prove it so didn’t.
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70 min: Misplaced passes, slapstick defending, goalmouth scrambles, out-of-form strikers on for injured full-backs, wild shots hitting corner flags ... this is more like a Sunday League match than a Champions League semi-final between two of the best teams in Europe. It’s good fun, mind.
69 min: Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski as they attempt to scramble home the ball from a few yards out after a James ball from deep is headed across the face of goal. Bayern appeal for a penalty, claiming Sergio Ramos handled it, but the referee is not interested.
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66 min: Despite the Real physios making it clear that Dani Carvajal will have to go off injured, no substitution is made and he remains on the field as Bayern attack. Zidane instructs him to hit the deck. He does so and next time the ball goes out of play he makes way for Karim Benzema.
61 min: There’s a break in play as Dani Carvajal goes down with what looks like a hamstring injury. It’s been an intriguing match, with no shortage of talking points, but the standard of football has been appalling considering this is the first leg of a Champions League semi-final featuring European royalty.
60 min: Franck Ribery finds himself with the ball at his feet and a clear sight of goal from about 15 yards. He shoots, but Navas saves well with a strong hand at his near post.
58 min: For reasons best known to himself after Real had cleared a Bayern corner, Rafinha attempted to square the ball across to Kimmich just inside his own half. It’s woefully misplaced and Lucas Vazquez pounces. He plays the ball to Asensio, who gallops into acres of space and clips the ball over the advancing Ulreich. It rolls with laser-like precision into the bottom right hand corner.
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GOAL! Bayern Munich 1-2 Real Madrid (Asensio 57)
A calamitous error from Rafinha leads to a Real counter-attack that ends with Marco Asensio clipping the ball over Sven Ulreich and into the bottom corner.
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55 min: Thomas Muller curls a delivery across the face of goal from deep, attempting to pick out Lewandowski. He does so, but the ball’s a mite too high and Lewandowski is left with no choice but to head downwards. There’s nobody on hand to slot home.
53 min: Franck Ribery is booked for leaving one in on Raphael Varane as the pair contested the ball in midfield.
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52 min: A Ribery pull-back from the byline looks likely to tee up Muller in a thicket of Real players six yards from goal, but Raphael Varane gets a vital touch to deflect the ball off his toe.
49 min: Bayern get forward with Franck Ribery and Robert Lewandowski combing through the centre. They run down a blind alley, the ball’s played wide and back into the centre, where Marcelo heads clear as Navas flaps wildly in the background.
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47 min: Cristiano Ronaldo attempts his first shot of the night and puts the ball out for a throw-in near the corner flag.
Second half: Bayern Munich 1-1 Real Madrid
46 min: Real Madrid get the second half started with Marco Asensio on for Isco. One suspects Bayern are going to need another goal or two to give themselves a chance of progressing to the final, while Real seemed happy enough to try to contain them in the first half. That’s unlikely to change now that they’ve got an away goal under their belt.
Half-time:Bayern Munich 1-1 Real Madrid
It’s all square at the Allianz Arena, where a scrappy, dull first half sparked into life when Joshua Kimmich took advantage of some sloppy goalkeeping to fire Bayern into the lead near the half-hour mark. With Bayern in complete control, despite losing Arjen Robben and then Jerome Boateng to injury, Real Madrid looked to be in total disarray. But with half-time looming, Marcelo popped up to equalise with a fine volleyed finish that has left Bayern on the back foot. Cristiano Ronaldo, in case you’re wondering, has been anonymous.
45+2 min: Marcelo heads the ball out for a Bayern corner, towards the end of what’s been a very strange half. The delivery comes in, Thomas Muller gets a touch and looks to have sent the ball flashing past Navas, but it’s just wide.
45 min: Lucas Vazquez fouls Ribery about 30 yards from the Real goal, left of centre. Thiago and James stand over the ball. James curls the ball across the face of goal, but Lewandowski heads straight at Keylor Navas, who scrambles the ball clear. How did he miss?
GOAL! Bayern Munich 1-1 Real Madrid (Marcelo 44)
Marcelo equalises and it’s totally against the run of play. He volleys low and hard into the bottom right-hand corner from 20 yards, converting a header across the box from Dani Carvajal.
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43 min: With Real Madrid’s defence in an absolute shambles, Thomas Muller volleys wide after getting a good connection on a cross from Rafinha. His effort takes a big deflection off Raphael Varane and goes out for a corner from which nothing comes.
41 min: From a corner, Mats Hummels volleys high over the bar from six yards after getting on the end of a Robert Lewandowski flick-on. He should have done better.
38 min: Every member of Munich’s canine community Munich pricks their ears as a ridiculously loud chorus of shrill whistling reverberates around the stands after Dani Carvejal bodychecks Joshua Kimmich, is penalised and then spends the best part of a minute protesting his innocence to the referee. He somehow avoids a booking and the whistles become even more shrill.
37 min: While Jerome Boateng was able to gingerly make his way down the stairs to the tunnel unassisted, he does not by any stretch of the imagination look like a man who’ll be fit for the second leg of this match in six days time.
34 min: Dreadful, dreadful news for Bayern, who lose Jerome Boateng – 50% of the best central defensive pairing in Europe – to what looks like quite a serious injury. He’s helped down the tunnel by two of the team’s medical staff to join Arjen Robben on the treatment table. He’s replaced by Niklas Suele and Bayern only have one sub left.
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32 min: Moments after Real restarted the game, Bayern went on the attack again and had a penalty appeal turned down. Lewandowski was muscled off the ball by Raphael Varane when through on goal.
29 min: With Marcelo up the field and out of position as Bayern embarked on a counter-attack, Kimmich galloped into the space behind him and picked up the ball. He cut inside towards goal and with Navas presumably expecting him to cross the ball, simply sent a shot fizzing past the goalkeeper at his near post. Navas got a hand to the ball, but couldn’t keep it out.
GOAL! Bayern Munich 1-0 Real Madrid (Kimmich 28)
Bayern lead! another shocker from goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who lets Joshua Kimmich to send the ball fizzing past him at his near post after a gallop down the right flank.
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26 min: Real win a corner, but as the ball is delivered, Sergio Ramos is penalised for a foul.
23 min: A poor touch from Joshua Kimmich in the Bayern defensive ranks enables Dani Carvajal to unleash a snap-shot from about 30 yards. He fires straight at Ulreich.
22 min: Marcelo plays a hopeful ball over the top for Ronaldo to chase, but there’s too much welly on his pass and Sven Ulreich claims comfortably.
21 min: Real win another two corners in quick succession, but Bayern deal with them with a minimum of fuss.
20 min: Good defending from Jerome Boateng, who cuts out a neat pass around the corner from Modric to Ronaldo in a dangerous position and puts the ball out for a corner.
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19 min: Bayern get forward and after a period of probing around the fringes of the Real penalty area, Rafinha tries his luck from distance. His dipping shot bounces in front of Navas, but doesn’t trouble the goalkeeper.
17 min: Keylor Navas picks out Isco with an 80-yard kick-out and his attempt to pick out Ronaldo from the left flank is intercepted by Javi Martinez.
15 min: A scrappy enough start with lots of interruptions for niggly fouls and medical assistance. This game has yet to find its rhythm and is perhaps passing a few players by at the moment. Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo, and James Rodriguez ... I’m looking at you.
13 min: Lucas Vazquez trips Rafinha as the Bayern man picks up the ball on the left touchline near one of the technical areas. Free-kick for Bayern Munich, about 10 yards inside the Real half. Thiago hoists the ball forward, but sends it arcing out of play.
10 min: Ah, lets call a spade a spade here - he feigned injury.
9 min: Sergio Ramos slides in for a late tackle on Robert Lewandowski as the Bayern forward attempts to control a through ball from Mats Hummels. It looked like a stone-wall booking for the Real defender, but he appears to feign injury in order to garner some sympathy from the referee. His fiendish plan works and the official awards a drop ball.
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8 min: The jig is up for Robben, who is replaced by Thiago Alcantara.
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6 min: Arjen Robben goes down injured and looks fairly forlorn. Javi Martinez signals to the bench that he’ll need to come off; the Dutchman is brought to the touchline to receive treatment and consult with the physios.
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4 min: A Franck Ribery pass hits Carvajal in the penalty area and the Bayern Munich winger appeals for handball. The ball was fired straight at him and the referee correctly waves play on.
3 min: A brilliant, meandering 60-yard run by Cristiano Ronaldo pulls the entire Bayern Munich defence out of shape, leaving acres of space for Toni Kroos to exploit. This match has started at some gallop.
2 min: An early chance for Bayern Munich in the wake of some dodgy defending by Casemiro. Lewandowski gets a cross in from the left, but Thomas Muller is unable to control the ball. Real hack clear.
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Bayern Munich v Real Madrid is go!
1 min: Play is under way at the Allianz Arena. Sergio Ramos won the toss and gets his choice of end, which means Bayern kick-off. Robert Lewandowski does the honours iwth his team playing in red shirts, shorts and socks. Real Madrid’s players line up in all black with blue trim.
Not long now ...
The teams are in the tunnel at the Allianz Arena, where thousands of red and white flags are being waved in anticipation by the home fans. Up the steps and on to the pitch the players go, led by referee Bjorn Kuipers and his team of assistants. Kick-off is just moments away.
A very attacking Bayern Munich line-up: Javi Martinez is the only defensive midfielder being fielded by Jupp Heynckes. He’ll hold the midfield fort while James Rodriguez and Thomas Muller get forward in support of Robert Lewandowski, with Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery providing ammo from the flanks.
On BT Sport: Host Gary Lineker is asking pundits Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard for their thoughts on Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski. All three arrive at the conclusion that both players are very good, but Real Madrid man has the edge. Hardly revelatory stuff, but I’m not sure what else they could say
Five changes from Jupp Heynkes: Seeking to win his third European Cup, the Bayern manager drops six of the players who started against Hannover on Saturday so he could rest some of his big guns.
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid line-ups
Bayern Munich: Ulreich, Kimmich, Boateng, Hummels, Rafinha, Javi Martinez, Robben, Muller, Rodriguez, Ribery, Lewandowski.
Subs: Starke, Wagner, Sule, Thiago, Bernat, Rudy, Tolisso.
Real Madrid: Navas, Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, Modric, Casemiro, Kroos, Lucas, Ronaldo, Isco.
Subs: Casilla, Vallejo, Benzema, Bale, Hernandez, Asensio, Kovacic.
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (Oldenzaal)
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Team news ...
David Alaba will sit this one out for Bayern and doesn’t even make the bench, with Rafinha starting in his place at left-back. James Rodriguez starts in midfield against his parent club, for whom there are no surprise selections ... apart from the omission of Karim Benzema, who failed to impress against Athletic Bilbao last weekend. Luca Vazquez, Cristiano Ronaldo and Isco comprise Madrid’s attacking trident, while Gareth Bale must make do with a place on the bench alongside Marco Asensio.
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Real Madrid: Early team news ...
Move along, nothing much to see here. Sergio Ramos returns from suspension, but Nacho was unable to fully participate in training yesterday and looks unlikely to feature. Otherwise, Zinedine Zidane has a full squad to choose from.
Bayern Munich: Early team news ...
Arturo Vidal is out with a knee injury, while David Alaba was due to undergo a fitness test earlier today after sitting out yesterday’s training session with a thigh strain. Should he fail it, he is likely to be replaced by Rafinha. On loan from tonight’s opponents, James Rodriguez could be selected to face his parent club as, sensibly, there are no rules against this in European competition.
Manuel Neuer remains sidelined after breaking his foot for the third time in seven months last September, but has said he is confident of being fit for the final, should Bayern Munich. However, with his understudy Sven Ulreich having performed so ably in his absence, the goalkeeper was at great pains to stress: “I cannot come from nowhere and say: I play the final”.
Greetings sports fans ...
Welcome to the Guardian’s minute-by-minute coverage of first leg of the Champions League semi-final between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid at the Fußball Arena München, the 25th time these heavyweights have met in European competition. Things could scarcely be tighter – the score currently stands at 11 wins each, with just two draws. For what it’s worth, in terms of aggregate score Real Madrid lead by the odd goal of 73.
In recent times, Real Madrid have enjoyed the upper hand with five consecutive wins to their name, the most convincing a 4-0 thrashing at this very venue in the 2014 Champions League, almost a year after Bayern last won the final, at Wembley against Borussia Dortmund. Kick-off is at 7.45pm (BST), but stayed tuned for team news, build-up and the best photos from in and around the stadium.
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