Chapter 496: Real Madrid and Bayern
After a hard-fought draw away from home after the Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Liverpool, another Champions League clash was the end of the match between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
In the end, Bayern lost 1-2 to Real Madrid at home, and Real Madrid gained the advantage of the second leg of the home game.
Real Madrid reversed Bayern 2-1 away, and Real Madrid won six consecutive Champions League games against Bayern.
Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have met the most in the history of the Champions League, winning 11 of the 25 meetings and drawing two times each, with two semi-final meetings, with Bayern knocking out Real Madrid in 11/12 and Real Madrid's turn to reach the final in 13/14.
Bayern Munich starts: No. 26 Ulreich, No. 13 Raphinha, No. 5 Hummels, No. 17 Boateng, No. 32 Kimmich, No. 8 Martinez, No. 7 Ribery, No. 11 Rodriguez, No. 25 Muller, No. 10 Robben, No. 9 Lewandowski
Real Madrid starters: No. 1 Navas, No. 12 Marcelo, No. 4 Ramos, No. 5 Varane, No. 2 Carvajal, No. 8 Kroos, No. 14 Casemiro, No. 10 Modric, No. 22 Isco, No. 17 Vazquez, No. 7 Ronaldo
In this game, Bayern took the lead and had a clear advantage in possession, but still lost to Real Madrid with a score of 1-2.
Looking at the whole game, an obvious feeling is that the Bayern players are full of fighting spirit, but they are a little weak.
In the first half, Bayern had a slight advantage on the field and seized a counter-attacking opportunity, which also made Real Madrid more determined to implement the tactical arrangement of defensive counter-attacks after scoring the goal.
Bayern created a couple of good chances in positional battles but unfortunately failed to score, while Real Madrid used the counter-attack to create a few threats, and Asensio scored the second goal, Real Madrid then withstood Bayern's attack and finally let Real Madrid retreat from the Allianz Arena.
In Bayern's starting line-up, Heynckes opted to start Robben while Thiago sat on the bench.
On Real Madrid's side, Zidane chose Vazquez and Isco to partner Cristiano Ronaldo in the frontcourt, and Benzema was on the bench.
In the first half, Bayern dominated the game, but Real Madrid still managed to seize their chances.
In the opening stage, both sides launched a high-level pressing, compared to Bayern in their own home stadium, the intensity of pressing was higher, but Bayern was unlucky, and the players were injured one after another.
Real Madrid also showed their discomfort on the road, making a couple of mistakes in the passing process.
Less than ten minutes into the game, Robben went off injured and Thiago came on as a substitute, and Thiago, who clearly did not adapt to the rhythm of the game, made several undeserved mistakes.
It was a very fierce time for the two sides to compete at this time, and Rodriguez played very well against his former club, especially in the first half, picking the ball out of the crowd and sending a couple of crucial forward passes.
As the game progressed, after the initial probing, both sides stepped up their investment in the offensive end, and both left some counter-attacking opportunities for the other side.
Bayern's goal was a textbook counterattack, which was also a major feature of Heynckes after taking charge of Bayern.
Rodriguez's pass is doing what he has been doing throughout the game, Marcelo's forward insertion, leaving a gap behind him, this time also Bayern seized the opportunity, Kimmich's forward insertion is very good.
Kimmich's final handling was clearly to observe Navas's position and centre of gravity movement, and intentionally, Navas thought Kimmich would choose a cross and leak it into the near corner.
While the broadcast was still replaying the first goal, Bayern created another very good chance.
Rodriguez evaded the duo and Thiago handled it brilliantly, but in the end Ribery wasted the opportunity.
Soon after, Boateng was injured again, which once again disrupted Bayern's game plan, as the world's best long-distance central defender at this stage, his injury and departure made Bayern lose a tactical option, even if Hummels came on, it could not replace Boateng's role.
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The defensive position of Bayern players, all players are almost parallel, and as soon as the Bayern backline is compressed, the defense loses its three-dimensionality and layer.
The width of the pitch is huge, and Bayern will expose the goal directly in front of Real Madrid as soon as they leak a gap.
Real Madrid's first Carvajal shot, Ulreich played steadily, kept the ball out, and the second shot on goal was destroyed by Rodriguez's timely return to the defense.
However, Real Madrid's goal finally came, and before Real Madrid's goal, there was only one person protecting the Bayern player's position at the top of the arc.
Cristiano Ronaldo's run caught the attention of Bayern's defence, Marcelo's shot was tricky, and Ulreich was helpless this time.
At half-time, Bayern had the upper hand, but the 1-1 score was more favorable to Real Madrid.
In the second half, Zidane replaced Isco with Asensio, and Zidane no longer competed with Bayern for midfield, but had to defend and counterattack.
After all, at halftime, Real Madrid has 1 away goal in hand, Bayern is bound to be more active, and Zidane is going to take advantage of this situation to seek opportunities to counterattack.
This adjustment also played an important role, although Heynckes could not have been unaware of Zidane's intentions, but on the one hand, Real Madrid have taken the initiative to cede possession, and on the other hand, Bayern have no choice at home stadium.
Bayern did launch a fierce attack in the second half, and Ribery got off the ball brilliantly, but Muller was the only one in the box who grabbed the point.
Muller's crosses were still excellent, and Lewandowski's movement was still good, with a change of direction, but in the end Lewandowski still didn't take his chance.
However, Raphinha's mistake once again changed the course of the game, and Real Madrid's quick counter-attack was concise and clear, with Asensio playing an important role.
After the score came to 1-2, Bayern still had possession, while Real Madrid's defensive counter-attack was more thorough.
After Carvajal left the pitch injured, Zinedine Zidane simply brought on Karim Benzema, returning Vazquez to right wing-back and allowing Luka Modric to support in defence.
Benzema's shot on the counter-attack made many Bayern fans feel cold, and it was Ulreich's save that maintained Bayern's survival in the second leg.
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In the second half, Bayern's attack was mainly concentrated on the left flank, and Ribery's performance at other times was already very good except for a wasted chance in the first half, but for the 35-year-old Ribery, he couldn't ask for more.
With Robben off injured, Kimmich didn't get a good chance to cross the bottom, so Kimmich had to choose to pass to the receiver in the middle.
At the end of the game, Heynckes replaced Javi Martinez with Tolisso, who played well and sent a through ball, but Lewandowski was disappointing, and if Lewandowski took a step forward, he could probably have an empty goal.
After a number of unsuccessful attacks by Bayern, the match ended with a score of 1-2, with Real Madrid taking the lead in the game, while Bayern were already in a desperate situation.
Judging from the full-time statistics, Bayern did take the initiative on the field, but the attack was inefficient, and they eventually lost at home.