Sid Lowe was at the Bernabeu this evening. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night.
A livid Thomas Tuchel speaks to TNT. “We were almost through … almost there … a very unusual mistake from our very best player for the equaliser … we conceded [the second] in a very narrow decision … then we scored one … a disastrous decision from the linesman and the referee … so it feels almost like a betrayal because of that decision … we left everything on the pitch … we have to say congratulations to Real Madrid … the linesman said sorry but that does not help … the referee does not have to whistle … he sees we get a shot away … it is against the rules and it is a bad decision from both of them … it is a disaster … it is tough to swallow … we were not clinical in our counter attacks … we could have created a decisive chance for a second goal … the team gave everything … we did it together … we left everything on the pitch … it is sport and you have to expect the result in the end.”
Carlo Ancelotti talks to TNT. “We played well … we had opportunities to control the game … it happened again here … it’s quite usual at the Bernabeu with our supporters we can do something unexpected … we believed … we put fresh legs on the pitch … Joselu is a fantastic striker … we had a lot of energy at the end of the game … I’m going to enjoy now until the final … we celebrate the league, then [making] the final … [the players] work really hard … they are really humble … it is the best squad I have ever had in my career.”
Spare a thought for Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui. Exactly five years ago, they were part of the Ajax team that had a place in the final snatched from under their noses in ultra-dramatic circumstances. Well, history has repeated itself tonight. Everyone in Bayern black will be in mourning right now, but Real’s smash and grab is going to cut especially deep for those two.
So, that offside call. Was Noussair Mazraoui offside? Was Matthijs de Ligt? Or was Rüdiger playing them on? It’s all moot now, but decide for yourself …
The moment that could have changed everything…
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 8, 2024
VAR wasn’t able to review the offside call against De Ligt after the referee had already blown his whistle 👀 pic.twitter.com/PyMp4Jg1j1
Post-match postbag. “Real Madrid? Sigh. More like Unreal Madrid. Surreal Madrid” – Peter Oh
“On his Champions League debut against Napoli in the group stage, Joselu missed five sitters from a combined distance of about five yards before finally scoring. Now he’s got a brace in the semi-final. His whole career is a hymn to persistence” – Kári Tulinius
“I guess the linesman forgot the ‘don’t put the flag up until the play is over’ rule when VAR is in play? Horrendous decision, and I don’t like Bayern” – Joe Pearson
Updated
Jude Bellingham recovers to speak to TNT Sports. “We’ve seen it a lot of times this season when it looked as though were dead and buried … it doesn’t matter who scores the goals but someone always manages it … that mentality of never say die … I don’t think Joselu will be sleeping much tonight, he’ll be useless in training tomorrow! … he deserves it all, he’s been an amazing member of the squad all season and it’s his night … there’s a reason we turn so many games … why we always manage to come back in the second leg … it’s cos of these lot [the Real fans] … they give you an energy you can’t get from anything else … at Wembley, against [former club] Dortmund, it’s a weird one … I’m so looking forward to it … hopefully it’ll be a great game.”
“You can’t put the flag up. You can’t put the flag up!” An incandescent Eric Dier telling it as he sees it to the referee. Be good to see the lines drawn on that offside decision again. But either way, it’s all too late for Bayern. Real Madrid will play in their 18th European Cup final, their sixth in the last 11 years, and their first on English soil! They’ll face Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on June 1. They might have snatched the match late from under Bayern’s noses, but it can’t be denied that they were the better side tonight. Joselu is the two-goal hero, but Vinícius Júnior was the man of the match. Manuel Neuer had been excellent too … until he made that late, late error that swung the tie in Madrid’s favour. Jude Bellingham in tears. Harry Kane doing his best to hold them back as he stares at the heavens.
Updated
FULL TIME: Real Madrid 2-1 Bayern Munich (agg: 4-3)
Real Madrid have done what Real Madrid do yet again!
90 min +13: De Ligt lashes a shot into the bottom-left corner of the net, but the whistle had long gone for an offside on Mazraoui. It was tight, though, the linesman’s flag popping up ridiculously early as he and De Ligt contested a long ball with Rudiger. Tuchel is understandably incensed. That was a very close call. Bayern will feel beyond aggrieved if that’s later proven to be onside.
Updated
90 min +12: Camavinga is booked for hauling back Choupo-Moting. De Ligt launches a long free kick straight into Lunin’s arms.
90 min +11: Penny for the thoughts of Harry Kane, hooked three minutes before Real’s equaliser.
90 min +10: Does it surprise you to learn that Carlo Ancelotti still looks as cool as a cucumber?
90 min +9: There will be more than nine added minutes, the goal, VAR, all that. Real prepare for them by swapping out Bellingham for Éder Militão.
90 min +8: The ball drops to Mazraoui, just inside the Real box on the right. He’s got time and options, but instead slices a hysterical shot high and wide left. Bayern’s heads are understandably addled.
90 min +7: The Bernabeu is bouncing, as you’d imagine. Bayern haven’t been able to fashion a response yet. On the touchline, Tuchel cops for one of the most ironic bookings of all time, punishment for telling his players to simmer down in an overly animated fashion.
90 min +6: Shades of 1999 for poor Bayern as well. But this is Real Madrid!
90 min +5: Joselu has had three touches since coming on. Two of them have scored goals that will go down in Real history!
90 min +3: In fact, when it all came down, Joselu was proved by VAR to be well onside. On the touchline, Thomas Tuchel implores his team to calm down. There’s still time to rescue this. But if they’re to force extra time, they’ll have to do a Real Madrid on Real Madrid!
GOAL! Real Madrid 2-1 Bayern Munich (Joselu 90+1); agg 4-3
Joselu looked offside when Rudiger received the ball on the left. Rudiger was on. But as Rudiger prepared to send the cross in, Joselu backed up enough to get back onside. He was on when Rudiger teed him up! The Real bench empties in celebration! They can’t believe it! Bayern can’t either!
Updated
90 min +2: Or will it? VAR to check. And …
90 min +1: Bayern don’t clear the corner. The ball’s slipped to Rudiger on the left. A low cross is fizzed into the middle. Joselu slams home from close range! But the flag pops up for offside. It won’t stand.
90 min: Bayern are suddenly all over the shop! A loose pass out from the back allows Vinícius Júnior and Brahim Díaz to take turns to shoot. Dier blocks the second out for a corner. And then, in the first of nine added minutes …
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-1 Bayern Munich (Joselu 88); agg 3-3
Neuer has made some huge saves tonight … but he’s dropped a clanger here. Vinícius Júnior cuts in from the left. He shoots. Lamely. But Neuer lets the ball bounce off his chest, and Joeslu is on hand to slam the rebound into the bottom left from close range. Real have done it again!
Updated
87 min: Pavlovic strained something during that aforementioned three-on-one break and is forced to go off for a bit of treatment. Bayern down to ten for now.
86 min: This is far from over, of course. It’s Real Madrid. Just ask Chelsea and Manchester City.
85 min: Musiala isn’t going to finish the match. On comes Muller. And it’s a double swap, as Kane is replaced by Choupo-Moting. Nothing comes of the corner … other than a three-on-one Bayern break, which Muller ruins by playing an awful pass behind Davies.
Updated
84 min: Brahim Díaz wins a corner on the right. Before that can be taken, Musiala goes down demanding medical attention. The crowd don’t like it. Of course they don’t.
82 min: Kim rises highest and rattles a header against the crossbar! But it wouldn’t have counted, because Pavlovic had been shoving folk with too much enthusiasm. Real get on with things immediately, Camavinga crossing from the right, Vinícius Júnior opening his body to lash a fine effort not far away from the top-right corner. This is breathless.
81 min: Before it can be taken, Rodrygo and Valverde are replaced by Brahim Díaz and Joselu. Then the free kick’s whipped into the mixer by Kimmich. Rudiger is forced to head behind for a corner on the left. Kimmich to take that too.
80 min: Laimer drives in from the right and draws a foul from Modric. Just what Bayern need as the clock ticks on. They take their sweet time to prepare for the upcoming free kick.
78 min: Modric shimmies down the inside-right channel and shapes to shoot. He changes his mind at the last moment, and plays a ball down the channel to nobody in particular. Goal kick.
76 min: Kim, who didn’t have a great time in the first leg, takes the place of Sané. Bayern looking to hold onto what they have.
75 min: A huge chance for Kane to wrap this up. Musiala jinks down the inside-left channel and slips Kane into the box. Kane lines up his shot only to lash into the side netting. That’s a big miss.
74 min: That’s the correct decision, as obvious an act of aggression as you’ll see. Only a surprise that Nacho hasn’t been booked for that. At least.
Updated
NO GOAL! Real Madrid 0-1 Bayern Munich; agg 2-3
73 min: But Kimmich is down, and VAR wants a look. Nacho has two hands on Kimmich’s throat, and he shoves him over as the ball comes in. The referee doesn’t take long to chalk off the equaliser.
Updated
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-1 Bayern Munich (de Ligt og 71); agg 3-3
It’s not on any more! Bellingham wins a corner down the right. The ball’s pulled back to Nacho, who drives through a crowded box. The ball deflects off de Ligt and past a wrong-footed Neuer!
70 min: The Bayern fans are suddenly making all the noise. The Bernabeu otherwise silent and sullen. As things stand, a Wembley repeat of the 2013 final is on!
69 min: What a smash-and-grab this could be! Real, stunned, make an immediate double change. Modric comes on for Kroos, while Tchouameni is replaced by Camavinga.
GOAL! Real Madrid 0-1 Bayern Munich (Davies 68); agg 2-3
For all Real’s second-half dominance, they’re behind! Davies scores his first-ever Champions League goal, and it’s a beauty! Kane finds him in space down the left. He drives infield, drops a shoulder to enter the box and get past Rudiger, and rasps an unstoppable rising shot across Lunin and towards the top right! Bayern lead!
Updated
67 min: Kimmich sends the corner straight out of play. Thomas Tuchel can’t hide his disgust. Bayern surely can’t afford to waste these rare opportunities to create. But then …
66 min: Musiala sashays down the inside-left channel, drops a shoulder to make some space ahead of Carvajal, then rasps a shot towards the top left. Now it’s Lunin’s turn to tip over. Kimmich to take the corner from the left.
65 min: Vinícius Júnior runs at Kimmich yet again. Kimmich goes to ground and accidentally handles. A free kick just to the side of the Bayern box. Neuer makes a rare mistake and flaps as the ball comes in. Nacho and Carvajal get in each other’s way so neither can hook the loose ball goalwards. Carvajal then sprays a dismal shot miles over the bar.
63 min: Real stroke it around patiently. They’re in charge of this game now.
61 min: Vinícius Júnior is unplayable right now. Were Manuel Neuer not on the very top of his game, he could have scored a hat-trick already.
Updated
60 min: Bayern suddenly launch a four-on-four attack. There are options. But Musiala plays an awful pass behind Sane on the right and Real can counter. Vinícius Júnior cuts in from the left and launches a spectacular rising shot towards the top right. Neuer tips away at full stretch, and nothing comes from the corner.
Updated
59 min: The free kick’s just to the left of centre, in fact. Rodrygo takes, and curls a fierce effort over the wall and towards the top left. It’s not quite in the corner, but it’s still a fine strong-armed save from Neuer. Real beginning to knock loudly on the door.
Updated
58 min: Musiala has an opportunity to release Kane down the middle, but seriously overhits his pass. He cocks his head back, a Pez dispenser of disappointment. Real counter, Bellingham drawing a foul from Laimer. Free kick in a central position, 25 yards out.
57 min: Vinícius Júnior has single-handedly turned up the volume in the Bernabeu. He’s the boss of this left flank, and looks super-dangerous every time he starts a run. Bayern on the back foot all of a sudden.
55 min: Vinícius Júnior takes on De Ligt this time. De Ligt has about as much joy as Kimmich. Vinícius Júnior performs a quick soft-shoe shuffle before poking a low cross past the defender and finding Rodrygo, who flicks a close-range effort inches wide of the bottom right. Closer and closer.
53 min: … Valverde flays high and wide from distance. Bayern barrel up the other end through Kane, who drives a shot towards the bottom right. Lunin parries, then Mendy shoulders Kane to the floor as they battle for the rebound. Kane wants a penalty but it’s a fair challenge. This has livened up all right since the restart!
Updated
52 min: Vinícius Júnior has Kimmich’s number. He skins him down the left again and enters the box. He attempts to tee up Bellingham in the middle, but his low cross is deflected out for a corner. From which …
Updated
50 min: Both teams seem to have come out with a carpe-diem attitude. Vinícius Júnior gets the better of Kimmich down the left but can’t find anyone in the middle; ditto Kane, whose low cross from the Bayern left flank is easily intercepted.
49 min: Bayern have already been forced into one change, Gnabry’s hamstring betraying him. It might be worth keeping an eye on Sane, who has been carrying a groin strain and came out of the tunnel with one hand gingerly rubbing his waist.
47 min: Vinícius Júnior jinks down the left and reaches the byline, nearly teeing up Valverde for a tap-in. Dier gets in the way to clear. Then up the other end, Davies dribbles down the left and shoots, Carvajal sliding in to deflect over the bar. Nothing comes from the corner, but what an exciting end-to-end start to the half!
Updated
Real get the second half underway. No tactical changes. On that subject, Kári Tulinius observes: “I can’t tell if Tuchel has set up more defensively, or if having traded Matthijs de Ligt for Kim Min-Jae, Bayern are less porous at the back. But while Real aren’t finding the space they did in the first leg, Bayern aren’t creating much themselves. It feels like the breakthrough will come from a set-piece, rather than open play.”
Half-time entertainment. Both articles of a Champions League stripe.
HALF TIME: Real Madrid 0-0 Bayern Munich (agg: 2-2)
Real have had the better chances, with Manuel Neuer saving well from Vinícius Júnior (twice) and Rodrygo. Bayern’s best effort saw Harry Kane force Andriy Lunin into a smart save. As things stand, we’re heading towards extra time and possible penalty kicks.
45 min: There will be one additional minute.
44 min: Davies drives down the right hard and fast. The ball breaks back to Mazraoui, who attempts a curler towards the top right. It’s not a bad effort, but not good enough to beat Lunin, who gathers without fuss.
42 min: Bayern are beginning to see a bit more of the ball as the half draws to a close.
40 min: One corner leads to another corner that leads to nothing. This semi-final hasn’t quite taken off yet.
39 min: Vinícius Júnior drops a shoulder down the inside-left channel. De Ligt obstructs him. The hosts load the box, but Kroos’s delivery is no good and easily cleared. But then Vinícius Júnior comes again down the left. His low cross-cum-shot misses everyone on the six-yard line, but it’s heading into the bottom right. Neuer tips brilliantly around the post.
Updated
37 min: Bayern with more sterile possession; the crowd with more of the old whistling.
35 min: Now Kane dribbles down a cul-de-sac and slap-bang into Valverde, when he had options either side. Maybe over-thinking things with the stakes so high? His first-time volley past the post, when he didn’t have time to ponder, was more like it.
33 min: Kane has an opportunity to release Davies down the left but clanks his pass straight at the nearest white shirt. That’s the second time he’s dropped deep only to play a loose pass, having earlier nixed another potential attack by sending a simple ball to Kimmich into the stand; most uncharacteristic behaviour from Kane.
31 min: On the subject of coming close, I’ve probably undersold that Neuer double save during the multi-ball incident. It was a brilliant fingertip save to deny Vinícius Júnior, deflecting his drive onto the post, and Rodrygo absolutely hammered the rebound goalwards, only for Neuer to spring back up off the turf, parry and claim.
Updated
29 min: Kimmich’s right-wing cross is deflected into Kane’s path, just to the right of the D. Kane creams a first-time drive towards the bottom right. Maybe it’s just going wide. Either way, Lunin tips around the post wonderfully; nothing comes of the resulting corner. But that’s as close as Bayern have come.
Updated
28 min: Gnabry can’t continue. He trudges off sadly and Alphonso Davies takes his place.
27 min: Gnabry goes down clutching his hamstring. It doesn’t look promising for the Bayern man. Meanwhile Charles Antaki has been considering the various pros and cons of a Bayern win: “Two teams from the same country in the final always takes a bit of air out of the thing for everybody else, so that’s not good; Brits don’t get to see Real stars especially Jude Bellingham in the flesh, also not good; but on the other hand Arsenal fans get the chance to line the streets and flick Vs at Harry Kane on the bus, so it wouldn’t be all bad.”
25 min: Carvajal clatters into the back of Kane and earns himself a talking-to. A couple of Real players treading a fine line, but the ref’s keeping his cards in his pocket for now.
Updated
24 min: Rodrygo cuts the ball back from the right but Vinícius Júnior can’t control to shoot. Real come again down the other flank, and Bellingham spins Sane in the Cruyffian style on the byline, only for the flag to go up incorrectly for a goal kick. Bellingham had kept that in play with great grace. Shame play wasn’t allowed to continue there.
22 min: Laimer finds a pocket of space just inside the Real half, and suddenly the hosts are on the retreat. He’s got Sane to his right, and should release him into the box, but the pass is woeful and Sane can only extend a desperate leg that deflects the ball out for a goal kick.
20 min: Valverde, having recently been dispossessed by Laimer, clips his opponent from behind. He’s fortunate not to go into the book. That challenge looked fuelled by a rush of blood to the temples.
Updated
18 min: A period of Bayern possession is met with a soundtrack of irritated whistling.
16 min: Sane races into the Real box from the right. He’s got options in the middle but slices his pass, allowing the Real defence to clear the dollied ball.
15 min: Vinícius Júnior tries a curler from the other side this time. High and wide. But that previous passage of play was super weird. Rüdiger was chasing after Dier’s clearance while his team-mates were launching an attack with a different ball!
13 min: A really strange passage of play as Dier launches a long clearance up the Bayern left. The ball rolls into the Real half. But it’s gone out at some point along its route, and Real take a quick throw with another ball. Vinícius Júnior picks up possession just inside the Bayern box on the right and shoots low. Neuer tips the ball onto the far post and away. Rodrygo hammers the rebound goalwards but Neuer parries that too. Just as well that didn’t go in, because the referee would have had some unpicking to do!
Updated
12 min: … so having said that, the pace drops a little and everyone gets patient.
10 min: It’s pretty open for a Champions League semi. Both teams look ready and willing to attack whenever they can.
Updated
8 min: Now it’s Bayern’s turn to come close! A bit of space for Gnabry down the left. He whistles a low cross through the six-yard box, but Kane can’t reach it at the far stick. Somewhere in a parallel universe, toenails remain uncut and it’s already 1-1.
6 min: Carvajal fires a low diagonal cross through the Bayern box from a deep position on the right. It’s a sensational ball and Rodrygo should poke home at the near post but somehow he misses it. Then Bellingham goes over in the presence of Kimmich, but though he claims a penalty, he’s gone down far too theatrically and he’s getting nowt.
5 min: Dier and Tchouameni take turns to ship possession easily. Rodrygo and Kane respectively fail to gain any sort of advantage. All a wee bit scrappy so far.
4 min: … but apart from that one speculative Bayern ball, it’s been all Real in the opening exchanges. Bayern happy enough to let them play it around the back.
Updated
2 min: Sane tries to bring down a long pass but Mendy hassles him from behind and the Bayern man loses control.
38 sec: Kroos, making his 150th Champions League appearance tonight, sends in an aimless corner. Bayern clear their lines easily.
14 sec: Vinícius Júnior immediately snaffles the ball and tears down the left touchline to win the first corner of the evening. From which …
Bayern get the ball rolling! It’s loud.
The teams are out! The atmosphere electric. The stands awash with purple and white cards. The colour scheme is a switcheroo from the first leg: Real Madrid in white, Bayern Munich in black. We’ll be off once Zadok the Priest (Version) is spun. “The German visitors must be slightly miffed that the only umlauts in the starting lineup belong to one of the Spanish hosts’ players, Antonio Rüdiger,” writes Peter Oh. “I’m no Thomas Tuchel but I believe he has made a (dia)critical tactical mistake in not starting Thomas Müller.”
Updated
Bad news for Bayern! Real Madrid have won all five European ties in which they’ve drawn 2-2 in their away first leg. The last time it happened, against Dynamo Moscow in the 1994-95 Uefa Cup second round, they won the return match 4-0 at the Bernabeu.
Great news for Bayern! This is only the second time the Germans have drawn a first-leg European tie 2-2, and they’re currently one for one, as they beat Barcelona 2-1 at Camp Nou in the semi-final second-leg of the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, a trophy they went on to win.
As-yet-undetermined news for Bayern! Something’s got to give.
Updated
Sid sets the scene.
Real Madrid make one change to the XI that started the first leg. Dani Carvajal comes in for Lucas Vázquez, who drops to the bench.
Bayern make three changes to their starting line-up of last Tuesday. Matthijs de Ligt returns from injury in place of the hapless Kim Min-jae, while Serge Gnabry and 20-year-old defensive midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic replace Thomas Müller and Leon Goretzka. All three of the men stood down are on the bench.
Updated
The teams
Real Madrid: Lunin, Carvajal, Rudiger, Nacho, Mendy, Tchouameni, Kroos, Valverde, Bellingham, Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior.
Subs: Courtois, Eder Militao, Modric, Camavinga, Joselu, Lucas, Ceballos, Garcia, Diaz, Guler, Arrizabalaga.
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Kimmich, de Ligt, Dier, Mazraoui, Laimer, Pavlovic, Sane, Musiala, Gnabry, Kane.
Subs: Upamecano, Kim, Goretzka, Choupo-Moting, Zaragoza, Peretz, Davies, Muller, Ulreich, Tel.
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland).
📋✅ ¡Nuestro 𝗫𝗜 inicial!
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) May 8, 2024
🆚 @FCBayernES #UCL pic.twitter.com/mAIJVddTDh
✨ Unsere Elf für den Traum vom Finale! ✨#PACKMAS #MiaSanMia #RMAFCB pic.twitter.com/5BDP0t0b7c
— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) May 8, 2024
Updated
Preamble
Last week this happened …
… and if tonight’s second leg at the Bernabeu proves to be even half as entertaining, we’ll be lucky people indeed. Will Harry Kane and Eric Dier make it to their second Champions League final? Will Jude Bellingham make it to his first? Can Bayern win at a ground where they’ve lost on nine of their previous 13 visits, winning only twice? Kick off in Madrid is at 8pm BST, 9pm local. It’s on!
