In the first minute of the second half, Real Madrid’s season was all but over. Seven points behind Barcelona in La Liga and trailing 0-2 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, little could be expected from a team that has been through all manner of crises this season.
But the Bernabéu rose up against the Germans, who occupied 4,000 seats in the stadium and were cheering far too loudly. There was noise and fury after Kane’s 0-2 goal, as he pushed in a ball that Trent had laid on a plate for Mbappé, which the Frenchman failed to finish properly. In the end, the goal that could give Real Madrid some breathing space for the return leg went on the scoreboard thanks to technology and the watch the referee wears on one of his wrists.
Everything that followed was the madhouse that is the Bernabéu on big nights. A scene that Aleksander Čeferin, UEFA president, hadn’t seen for some time, as he sat alongside Florentino Pérez in Madrid once more after making peace with the club that has done the most for the Champions League. The roof was closed, despite Bayern’s earlier complaints, and the acoustics were begging for a 2-2 draw. The problem is that Mbappé and Vinicius’s powder is damp and the ball refuses to go in. The Brazilian had a one-on-one with Neuer that he sent into the side netting; the Frenchman had several shots that the German goalkeeper saved as best he could with some fine low dives (at 40 years of age) to be named the match’s MVP.
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior in action alongside Bayern Munich’s Jonathan Tah and Dayot Upamecano – REUTERS/GONZALO FUENTES
The back-and-forth could have ended well for Real Madrid, but this time there was none of that champion’s luck, that of a team with winning momentum where everything they do well turns out brilliantly and even what they do badly somehow works out. Pitarch stepped up on the day of the City match, but against Bayern he looked nervous with another mistake in the six-yard box where Lunin blocked Gnabry point-blank with his arm whilst the stadium held its breath.
Real Madrid manager Álvaro Arbeloa – REUTERS/GONZALO FUENTES
The midfield featured Tchouaméni (who will miss the second leg after a dubious yellow card), Güler and Valverde, but it was boosted by the introduction of Bellingham, who decided to take to the pitch after his injury, eager to run with the ball and give his teammates some breathing space in an area where the Whites lack direction.
Joshua Kimmich of Bayern Munich celebrates after the match – REUTERS/ANA BELTRAN
Rüdiger said at the end of the match that the two goals were two gifts. And so it was; Trent showed he knows how to defend, but Luis Díaz was quicker to react to a ball played inside and got behind him to score the first just before half-time. The second goal came from a risky pass by Vinicius to Carreras, which the Galician failed to control, leading to a fairly measured German counter-attack against a defence that made it all too easy for Kane to put the ball beyond Lunin’s reach, though who knows if Courtois’s hands might have sent it for a corner. Incidentally, Carreras came off the pitch looking rather shaken after the treatment he received from Olise, and Mendy could take his place on the wing in the return leg.
Luis Díaz of Bayern Munich celebrates his first goal – REUTERS/GONZALO FUENTES
The Bernabéu wasn’t the Champions League venue we’re used to. It wasn’t the one filled with foreign fans watching the match on their mobile screens whilst taking hundreds of photos. There were boos directed at Vinicius and Mbappé, and that’s unusual. The two strikers who were supposed to tear the German defence apart missed too many chances, fell into childish offside traps and played poor, aimless passes. The Real Madrid fans won’t forgive that; they want the opposition to suffer mercilessly.
Bayern Munich fans celebrate in the stands after the match – REUTERS/GONZALO FUENTES
Everything is left for the second leg. With La Liga all but over, Arbeloa can do as he pleases against Girona because the entire season hinges on those 90 minutes at the Allianz Arena in eight days’ time. That is another hellhole where Bayern suffocate whoever stands in their way; the problem is that Real Madrid will be standing in their way, and that commands respect.