Real Madrid 1 Bayern Munich 2
Bayern well on there way to the semi-finals. Whilst the tie is far from over I think this was a statement from Bayern to the rest of Europe about their intentions in this competition, the first half was mainly dominated by the Bavarians with Madrid creating a few chances on the break but you could see the discrepancy between the two teams as the half went on. Luis Diaz opened the scoring just before half-time after a cutting move from Bayern as Gnabry played a ball in behind the Madrid backline for the Colombian who finished past Lunin in the 40th minute. It didn’t take long for Bayern to add a second just 15 seconds after half-time as Olise raced down the line and pulled the ball back to Harry Kane who fired past Lunin from just outside the box to double Bayern’s lead. The second goal seemed to wake Madrid up as they looked for a way back into the game with Vini racing clean through after a mistake from Upamecano but the Brazilian could only find the side-netting, Madrid eventually did pull one back in the 73rd minute after Alexander-Arnold fired an outrageous cross to the back post where Mbappe was waiting to pull one back for Arbeloa’s side. Both sides had chances to score again but couldn’t take them to leave it all to play for next week at the Allianz Arena.
Michael Olise a cut above everyone else. In a pitch full of superstars like Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Harry Kane Michael Olise was by some distance the best outfield player on the pitch at the Bernabeu tonight, I felt sorry for Alvaro Carreras who couldn’t get near the Frenchmen all night and had absolutely no help from any of Madrid’s attackers when they didn’t have the ball. Olise’s ability to go either way when he’s on the ball had the Spanish fullback second guessing himself all game and I’m not sure if he even stopped him once throughout the 90 minutes, the season that Olise has been having with Bayern so far along with Kane has left them both well in the race for the Balon D’Or as of now but I think we know that award will be decided over the summer during the World Cup as it has over the last few tournaments. If Olise has a good end to the season and stars in the World Cup this summer he’ll be one of the frontrunners for the Balon D’Or in my opinion with the season he’s having.
Somethings not working at Madrid. I think the cracks at Madrid have been clear to see for quite some time stretching back to last season in the Champions League when they were outclassed by Arsenal over both legs losing 5-1 on aggregate, in my opinion Mbappe and Vini can’t play together if you want to be a functioning team and compete for the major trophies that Real Madrid demand. There were times tonight that it looked like Madrid were down to 9 men and they easily could have conceded 4 or 5 if Bayern were more ruthless going forward, it can work if both Mbappe and Vini are firing on all cylinders but they were both so wasteful in front of goal with Vini in particular having a terrible game and you could tell the Bernabeu was getting annoyed every time he gave the ball away which was quite a lot on the night. The biggest indicator is when Mbappe was injured Real Madrid looked a far more balanced team easily knocking out Man City over the two legs and as soon as he comes back they lose two games in a row, obviously it’s not all Mbappe’s fault but something is going to have to give eventually if Madrid go two seasons in a row without a trophy.
Manuel Neuer is far from finished at the highest level. I’ll be honest the last few times I’ve watched Neuer in the Bayern goal I’ve thought the end is near for the German at he elite level in the Champions League. I’m not ashamed to admit that I was wrong and he saved Bayern numerous times tonight with some brilliant saves in particular against Kylian Mbappe, in my opinion Neuer is the greatest goalkeeper of all time and even at 40 years of age he can pull out a top performance when his team really need it. The fact that he nearly saved the Madrid goal after an undefendable cross from Trent goes to show just how on it Neuer was tonight and I wonder if he can do it again next week at the Allianz when no doubt he’ll be facing the same amount of chances if not more as Madrid look for a way back into the game.
Bayern firm favourites to go through next week. Although it’s still all to play for next week Bayern will confident to get the job done next week at home where they have been scintillating so far this season, they already have the league wrapped up in Germany so can rest players over the weekend in preparation for the game next Wednesday like they did in the last game against Freiburg. For Madrid I think it’s quite clear that Bellingham has to start next week as they looked a completely different team when he came on along with Militao who has been Madrid’s best defender this season, the first goal will probably determine which way the game goes next week which is why Madrid have to start on the front foot which they didn’t do tonight. Can Madrid pull off the comeback next week at the Allianz or will Bayern power though into the semi-finals? We’ll find out next week.