This was another European knockout tie that appeared to be teetering on the brink of disaster for Real Madrid before they delivered another of their trademark comebacks.
When Bayern’s quickfire brace of second-half goals had swung this game in their favour, Madrid had to take stock. For a while, it seemed that 2-1 was not such a bad result ahead of the second leg at the Bernabeu.
Ancelotti’s tactical switch to 4-3-3 helped provide more cover, especially for stand-in right-back Lucas Vazquez, who was suffering badly against an inspired Jamal Musiala, and also gave his team another chance to take a breath.
The element of phoney war ended when Madrid went for a last push, with substitutes Luka Modric and Brahim Diaz adding energy and ideas.
Vinicius Jr’s flick to Rodrygo then tempted Kim Min-jae into a foolish penalty concession and Vinicius Jr again showed his big-game mentality to convert from the spot.
Ancelotti’s changes worked and, as so often in recent years, Madrid had rode out the storm and found a way to turn things to their advantage. At 2-2, with the return at a fired-up Bernabeu, Los Blancos will be confident of making yet another Champions League final.
But neither of these teams are perfect and both have mixed real power with dodgy moments through the competition this season. It is all set up tantalisingly for the second leg next WLeroy Sane was a doubt for tonight’s game due to a pubic bone injury and when the German international was named in the starting line-up, the anticipation was that he would be on the right flank — as he has been for the majority of the season.
However, injuries elsewhere meant Thomas Tuchel shuffled the pack slightly, placing Sane on the left and Jamal Musiala on the right, with Thomas Muller playing alongside Harry Kane in a 4-2-2-2.
For long periods of the first half, the plan looked effective. Sane was put through in a one-on-one within the first minute and was regularly looking to stretch the Madrid back line with runs to receive first-time on his natural left foSane and Musiala would frequently roll inside into the respective half spaces and leave Bayern’s full-backs to keep the width. In the second half, as Bayern switched more to a 4-2-3-1, Sane assumed his typical position on the right flank and restored parity within 10 minutes.
A driving run, drop of the shoulder and a thundered finish at the near post reignited the clash — his first goal since October 28It was a superb performance and a reminder of Sane’s versatility to play on either flank on the biggest European stage. . ot. ednesday.
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