On Tuesday, Bayern Munich took on Real Madrid in the first semi-final meeting in the Champions League. Bayern Munich, who impressed against Arsenal in the quarter-finals despite a tough season in the Bundesliga, also started this evening strongly with pressure against Real Madrid.
Bayern got two goal chances early on, with Leroy Sane finishing, but once he shot straight at Real keeper Andrij Lunin and the second time over the goal. Then Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala also threatened with shots, but to no avail.
Instead, it was Real Madrid who would celebrate first, when Vinicius Junior got free in the 24th minute – after a nice pass from Toni Kroos – and rolled the ball into the net to make it 1-0.
– Vinicius and Toni Kroos, oh what a synergy. I could have seen it (the goal) over and over again. Incomparable, said TV4 Play expert Jens Fjellström.
Real Madrid then came close to expanding at the start of the second half. Toni Kroos finished in a fine position, but had to see Manuel Neuer stretch out and deflect the ball.
Shortly afterwards, Bayern Munich received a dividend instead. Leroy Sane avenged his first-half misses, striking with a distinctive shot to level the score at 1-1.
Then it didn’t take long until it was blown for a penalty. Jamal Musiala was brought down by Lucas Vazquez in the penalty area, giving the home side a huge opportunity.
– It is difficult to say that it was not (penalty), as it was not played on the ball, but on the legs. Sure, when Vazquez extended his leg, Musiala didn’t mind falling easier, but there was enough contact, Fjellström said.
Harry Kane then stepped up to the penalty spot to coolly make it 2-1, the Englishman’s 43rd goal in 43 games this season.
“Harry Kane is the only forward of all time who could master every position on a football pitch. A manager’s dream and one of the absolute best forwards of all time in terms of quality. Shame he stayed so long at Spurs because he could have had a 20- talk trophies otherwise,” wrote TV4 Play expert Astrit Ajdarevic on X.
At the same time, there would be more penalties this evening. With eight minutes remaining in regular time, Rodrygo fell in a duel with Kim Min-jae and Real Madrid received a penalty.
Vinicius Junior, in turn, was cool and scored two goals to make it 2-2.
– Unfortunately for Bayern and Kim. Again a weak defensive game on his part. He has been cheated by Vinicius, and now he was cheated by Rodrygo, said Fjellström.
Real Madrid thus had the final say in the first semi-final meeting, which ended 2-2. The second leg will be played on May 8 at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.
– It is okay. I think it was a fair result. It was up and down for both teams during the match. We struggled for the first 15 minutes, and then I think we were in control for parts of the game and scored. I think it’s okay in the end. Now we go back to Madrid, and hope to win next week, says Toni Kroos to TV4 Play.
– I think we played a good away game and we will take the result with us. Of course, we know that we are strong at home and we feel confident about moving on.
Harry Kane is in turn disappointed afterwards.
– We are a little disappointed. We were 2-1 up in an important game and had the momentum for a third goal, so it’s a little disappointing that it ended up being a cross. We didn’t take our chances, but at the same time we were playing against one of the best teams in Europe. We knew it would be a tough game. There were some small details, where they punished us, but there will be another top game next week. We have to be ready for it.
Startelvor:
Bayern Munich: Neuer – Kimmich, Min-jae, Dier, Mazraoui – Laimer, Goretzka – Sané, Müller, Musiala – Kane.
Real Madrid: Lunin – Vazquez, Rüdiger, Nacho, Mendy – Valverde, Tchouameni, Kroos – Bellingham – Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior.
All matches in the Champions League are broadcast on TV4 Play.
