Madrid: Real Madrid, the undisputed kings of Europe took a step towards their 15th Champions League trophy after reaching its 18th final after beating Bayern Munich in a game filled with drama, late goals and controversy.
Substitute Joselu’s late double took Real Madrid into their 18th final with an aggregate 4-3 win over Bayern Munich.
The 14-time winners produced memorable semifinal turnaround at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu to set up a final against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on June 1.
Two years ago, Real beat Manchester City, thanks to two late goals by Rodrygo, in what many deemed to be the greatest CL semifinals of all time and the Los Blancos have only gone ahead and done it again.
Unlike the first leg at the Allianz Arena, Madrid were on the front foot from the starting whistle trying to carve their way past a valiant Bayern Munich defense. Vinicius Jr was once again lighting up the Bernabeu, keeping Joshua Kimmich very busy Real’s first big chance of the game came near the 13th minute mark when Vinicius Jr’s attempt was pushed onto the post by Neuer who made an excellent double save, denying the rebound attempt by Rodrygo.
After a cagey first half that ended 0-0, Santiago Bernabeu came alive in the second half. The LaLiga winners put on a flurry of attacks not giving the German giants any breathing space. It looked as if the first goal was imminent but it was Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies, who added his name to the scoresheet in the 68th minute thanks to a brilliant curling effort from the edge of the box that nested into the back of Lunin’s net.
Madrid answered back almost instantly scoring a goal from a corner in the 72nd minute but the goal was disallowed after a VAR check as Nacho, who was involved in the goal, could be seen fouling Kimmich during the build up.
Real Madrid is a club of dreams and it was an unlikely hero in Joselu, who made all the difference on the night. The former Stoke City man was subbed on in the 81st minute in a desperate attempt by Carlo Ancelotti to try and regain control in the game.
It was not until the 88th minute when Manuel Neuer, who was having a world class game up until this moment spilled a shot by Vinicius Jr with Joselu smashing the rebound in the back of the net.
What felt like mere seconds later, Rudiger found himself on the left flank with a ton of space as the former Chelsea man whipped in a cross which was shown its way to the back of the net by Joselu in the 91st minute of the game. The goal was originally disallowed by the assistant referee but further check saw Kim Min Jae playing Rudiger onside which meant the goal was allowed.
It was heartbreak for Bayern who have now lost 11 games against their Spanish opponents, the most one side has ever lost against another in the Champions League.
To add even more misery for the Bavarians, Bayern did manage to equalize the game late into stoppage time but the whistle had already blown on an offside for Noussair Mazraoui.
The referee did not allow the game to go on in what was a very close offside decision and no VAR check proceeded angering the Bayern players
“It was a disaster. An absolute disaster and it’s clear violation of the rules. The clear rule is that the scene must continue. The first mistake was made by the linesman, the second by the referee,” said Thomas Tuchel after the game.
(IANS)
