Two evenly matches teams saw one, 90th minute defensive mistake separate them, with Fabio Coentrão’s late gamble on Philipp Lahm leading to the game winning goal. Here’s how PST saw the action, as it happened:
Final: Bayern Munich 2 (Ribery 17′, Gomez 90′), Real Madrid 1 (Özil 53′)
94′ – The whistle blows, and thanks to Philipp Lahm and Mario Gomez, Bayern Munich have held serve. They’ll take a 2-1 advantage to Madrid having handed Real their first loss of the tournament, though José Mourinho’s side take a valuable road goal out of the Allianz.
93′ – Marcelo goes in very late on Thomas Müller, how holds his leg in agony. Howard Webb is quick to come in as the teams converge. As the teams disperse, Kroos is up. Webb only gives yellow. Replays show Marcelo comes in from behind, swinging a leg late, nailing Kroos in the left shin.
92′ – Higuain goes into the book after asking for a card when Ronaldo’s brought down.
90′ – Coentrão again is left on the ground after a failed challenge, Lahm getting a free pass to the line. He gets there, moves toward goal, then plays a ball into the six. Mario Gomez is there for what should be the winner, the Bayern attacker getting ball side of Alvaro Arbeloa for his 12th goal of Champions League.
87′ – The crowd wants all call here, but Howard Webb sees Sergio Ramos as being good, despite taking down Mario Gomez. A ball rolled in through the channel to the right of Pepe sees Gomez with a near-chance, but Ramos comes over and wins the challenge (despite Bayern’s protests).
86′ – Another chance for Gomez. Lahm cuts back onto his left foot and puts a cross in. Gomez gets up and redirects it on goal, but Casillas is right there.
85′ – Perhaps seeing an opportunity in the half-chance Esteban Granero had a minute ago, José Mourinho has switched Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo’s back on the left.
84′ – Real Madrid’s last change: Gonzalo Higuain is on; Karim Benzema comes off. Bayern still has two subs.
82′ – Throw in for Ribery sees him flick a ball over an oncoming defender and cut toward goal. He cuts the ball back, but Real Madrid intercepts, and after some nervous moments of clanking clearances off each other, the ball is out.
81′ – Arbeloa is down, having taken a shoulder in the back from Gomez. It’s Bayern’s first show of frustration, as they’ve been unable to make much headway over the last 10 minutes.
80′ – Esteban Granero is on for Angel Di Maria. He’ll play between Ronaldo and Marcelo, a line of three behind Benzeman.
79′ – Ribery is down again, trying to drawn another card. This one was whistled for a foul, but Real’s players are tired of it. Alonso immediately turns around, screaming at Ribery.
75′ – Wow. Ramos should get red for this, but he won’t. The Real Madrid defender goes sliding through the back of Thomas Muller as the Bayern defender, back to defense, waits for a ball to come to feet. As dangerous as that play is, there was never hope for anything but yellow.
74′ – Bayern has more of the ball right now, but they’re only generating half-chances. Their latest foray sees Luiz Gustavo plays one long and deep down the left, Ribery unable to save a Real goal kick.
72′ – A couple of step-overs by Ronaldo give Alaba a chance to gain possession. He does, and Bayern’s on the counter, the crowd roaring at the prospect of Ronaldo being made to pay. Ball is worked out to Bayern’s right where a cross for Gomez is put over the bar.
71′ – On the restart, the ball drops in behind the defense. A poor touch from Sergio Ramos plays the ball right to Mario Gomez. Gomez lifts a golden opportunity over the bar, given Ramos a reprieve.
70′ – For the second time this half, Ribery’s gone down to an Alvaro Arbeloa foul, and for the third time tonight, Ribery’s making the most of it. This time, Webb warns Arbeloa, but his cards stay in his pocket.
69′ – Real Madrid’s first change is a surprising one. Marcelo is coming on. Mesut Ozil’s coming off.
66′ – Another corner from the right for Bayern, and it’s much of the same. Real’s defenders are doing well to get up for Robben’s service, though instead of the kick leading to a Real counter, a second ball come in targeting Mario Gomez at the near post. Real’s ready for it and sends it out.
64′ – Robben wins a corner for Bayern, but Real defends it well enough to spring a counter. Angel Di Maria, who’d just taken a yellow to stop a counter, is taken down by Philipp Lahm, who goes into Howard Webb’s book.
62′ – Scare for Real Madrid as a ball’s rolled through the line, sending Gomez in on goal. Casillas reads it perfectly and covers it up.
61′ – The first change of the match sees Thomas Müller come on for Bastian Schweinsteiger. Given the timing of this, it could have been a planned substitution, as Schweinsteiger still may not be 90 minutes sit. It shows the value of Toni Kroos, though, as he’ll now drop back and play with Luiz Gustavo.
59′ – Foul on Kroos, who takes down Ozil about 40 yards from goal. Alonso’ on this and swingings it in right to a Bayern defender. The ball’s headed out and Di María frantically tries to stop a counter. The Argentine takes a yellow, fouling Ribery.
58′ – Bayern with their first chance sine the goal. Coentrão reaches for a challenge on Robber, who dances to the line before playing into the six for Gomez. The ball’s cut off and a corner’s conceded.
56′ – Fabio Coentrão goes into the book for a bad foul on Luiz Gustavo. Xabi Alonso soon joins him. That makes four who’ve seen yellow.
55′ – We see a replay of Real Madrid’s bench, elated at getting the away goal.
53′ – Oh, wow. Real Madrid catches Bayern out. It’s three attackers on three defenders, and Benzema finds Ronaldo wide open on the right. Ronaldo plays it right into the feet of Neuer – a really poorly taken try – but the rebound comes out, is picked up by Real, and eventually played back over to Ronaldo. From a tight angle, he plays into the six for an easy tap-in for Özil. Real Madrid have that valuable road goal.
52′ – Robben sees his first chance of the night. A counter down the left eventually comes through Kroos in the middle to Robben. With Real’s defense shifted to the right, Robben has a lot of room to come in onto his left foot and left a shot go from 22 yards. It goes over the bar.
51′ – Di Maria plays another long ball for Benzema. This time, the ball’s wide, allowing Ronaldo to cut in. Benzema tried to play a cross for him but it comes up short. Neuer grabs it.
49′ – If Real had started to regain control at the end of the first half, halftime cooled that. The first three minutes of the second have been even, though we have been given another hint that Benzema could be dangerous. A longer ball sees the Real striker that two steps on Boateng. He wins a corner.
46′ – According to UEFA, Xabi Alonso (5.7 km) and Bastian Schweinsteiger (5.8 km) covered the most ground in the first half.
46′ – We are back. Bayern is now moving from left to right on your imaginary television screen.
Halftime: What changes need to be made at halftime? Both sides could argue none. Bayern hasn’t been perfect, but they’re playing well against a really tough opponent. For Real Madrid, a tactical adjustment might be preferred to changing personnel. Real was having success playing the ball on the ground to Karim Benzema early in the half, but after the goal, they wanted to feed Ronaldo. José Mourinho should encourage his guys to bring Benzema back into the game. If the current personnel can’t do it, bring on Kaká for Özil at 60′.
Halftime: One pre-match move that I expressed surprise at was sacrificing Thomas Muller for Toni Kroos, but Jupp Heynckes’ decision appears to be paying off, if only mildly. With Müller in the team, Bayern would play with a slightly different shape. He’s a player that will play forward from his position between the wingers, whereas Kroos’ more natural tendencies have him sit and at times drop back. He’s been able to provide a number of useful touches from those spots.
Halftime: After one minute of injury time, Webb blows his whistle. It’s been an even half, possibly one controlled slightly more often by Real Madrid, but Bayern’s strong spell in the middle of the half produced the match’s only goal.
45′ – Sergio Ramos with a very ill-advised foul. He takes down Gomez in the arc when the Bayern attacker is surrounded by three Real defenders. Kroos stands over it, the ball spotted just outside the arc, but he can’t get it over the wall.
44′ – It’s been a while since Real Madrid tested Boetang and Badstuber, as they did early on. Most would say that’s the weakness of Bayern’s team, but after the goal, Real’s been content to try their luck from distance.
43′ – Its a good thing these sides are changing ends at half, else they’d wear out the grass on Ronaldo/Robben’s flank. Almost everything that’s happened this half has taken place on that side.
42′ – Update on that stats: Both teams have two shots on goal. Real’s put 7 shots toward Neuer. Bayern’s fired only three. Possession is dead even.
40′ – First real chance for Mario Gomez comes in transition with Alvaro Arbeloa caught up field. Gomez is able to attack to Pepe’s right and launch a 16 yard rocket at Casillas. The Real keeper pushes it over the bar, with the ensuing corner poorly delivered by Franck Ribery.
39′ – Bayern’s first spell of possession in some time fizzles out on their right. Real Madrid’s quick into a counter, with Ronaldo running at Lahm. He eventually cuts in and tries to play a ball for Di Maria with the outside of his right foot. It’s intercepted, cleared, and the Bayern response ends up with a ball rolled to Iker Casillas.
37′ – Bayern’s attempt to counter sees Fabio Coentrão with the ball. His attempt to play the ball back into Bayern’s end is bet with the bottom of Robben’s boot. Ceoentrão goes down holding his left. Howard Webb produces his second card.
36′ – Ronaldo’s brought down again, this time by Robben. Clear foul, if harmless if Alonso can’t do something with this service. The ball’s deep on Real’s left, swung in by Alonso, with Benzema’s flick dealt with.
34′ – For the first time in about 20 minutes, the match is starting to look like it did at the onset. Through they’re doing little with it, Real Madrid is about to possess,string together touches, and generally decide where they want to attack. No surprise, they always seem to make their way back to Ronaldo.
33′ – Mesut Ozil with the ball, takes it to the right corner before giving up a throw. The German international has done little over the first half hour.
31′ – First yellow card of the match is given to Holger Badstuber after Angel Di Maria is taken down. The caution could have just as easily gone to Luiz Gustavo. Ronaldo is given a direct from about 36 yards, one he puts into the wall.
30′ – Cristiano Ronaldo has his first chance from open play. He cuts in from the left and puts a right-footed shot over the bar. The game’s opened up, slightly.
29′ – Robben get out on a counter, and Coentrao and Ramos are left running back to goal, trying to keep pace. Robben plays a ball past Coentrao, beats him to it, and crosses into the six. Nothing comes of it, but it’s not what Jose Mourinho wants to see – his former Chelsea star running at an defense not given time to set up.
28′ – Bayern looks like they’re going to come down the left this time, but Ribery switches it early to Bastian Schweinsteiger, who’s pushed up on the right. Trap, set it up, tee it off, and the ball goes wide of Casillas’s right post. Bayern’s looking the better of the sides since the goal.
26′ – Every time Bayern’s building, they’re building down their right, where they have Arjen Robben and Philipp Lahm. As Robben gets on his toes and tries to set up Fabio Coentrão, Sami Khedira comes over and is guarding against Robben cutting back on his left foot. This time, Lahm’s played a ball to the line, gets in a cross, that leads to a corner.
25′ – Real Madrid continues trying to feed Benzema between Boateng and Badstuder. This time, it’s Pepe, who’s allowed to carry the ball into Bayern’s half before playing a pass that rolls all the way to Neuer.
24′ – Second foul on Ronaldo, with the Madrid attacker coming in from the left, picking up a ball in his own half, and trying to break his team into a counter. Ribery backtracks through his man, drawing the foul.
23′ – If the goal rocked Real Madrid, it’s hard to tell. They seem to see this as early days. Bayern, on the other hand, look their opponent’s equal, an attitude that wasn’t always apparent before the goal.
20′ – First time Cristiano Ronaldo’s taken down tonight, with Philipp Lahm coming in from behind to give Ronaldo a free kick from about 28 yards out. It’s funny to see Ozil standing over this, too, as if there’s any question who’l take this. Ronaldo takes two steps and opens his right foot onto it, putting his shot about 2 feet over the goal’s upper left hand corner.
19′ – That was Bayern’s first official shot on goal (Real Madrid also have one). Teams are splitting possession, according to UEFA.
17′ – Just like that, Bayern have the lead! So much for Real controlling the early minutes, right? Corner from Bayern’s left comes off Ramos and falls near the spot. Ribery’s there to snap the opener past Casillas. It’s 1-0 Bayern.
15′ – Mild controversy! Bayern with some nice play down their right plays a ball into the box for Ribery. Ribery plays the ball past Sergio Ramos toward the spot, runs into his man, and goes down. The crowd wants a cal, but Webb has none of it. Relays showed that while Ramos had a palm on Ribery’s chest, the Bayern forward idiotically goes down. Having his man beaten, he was set up for a shot from 12 yards on this strong foot.
14′ – A kerfuffle! Robben and Coentrão get mixed up. The ref (Howard Webb) has a word with Real’s left back. No cards, and in truth, not much of a kerfuffle.
13′ – One interesting positional note: Sergio Ramos is playing on the left side of Madrid’s central defensive pair, something that’s not unheard of, but it will put another quick defender on Arjen Robben’s side. Pepe versus Bayern’s right wing is more of the mismatch and is begging the big Portuguese to take cards (not that Ramos is good at avoiding them).
11′ – Bayern with some possession plays a long ball for Gomez, and while it forces Casillas out of his box to play it, it doesn’t do much to bring them into this match. Real Madrid resumes possession.
10′ – And just like that, you think back on the last 4-5 minutes and realize Real Madrid’s assumed control. Perhaps that Benzema chance pushed Bayern unto their heals, but Madrid’s now stringing together passes and able to establish themselves in Bayern’s half.
8′ – Benzema tries to run onto another through ball. This time, right-center back Jerome Boetang goes with him. It looks like Real Madrid may have a game plan there, but if Boetang is going to move away from his right to cover Benzema, that’s going to open up that area for Cristiano Ronaldo. Luiz Gustavo’s going to have to help.
7′ – First major chance of the match. Mesut Ozil draws Holdger Badstuder off his line, threads a ball in to Karim Benzema. One touch and the striker blasts one from just inside the box. Neuer pushes it over. Easy save.
6′ – Teams are still very munch in the feeling out stage, neither generating a real threat, let along an honest chance. This is a good point to remind everybody that these first legs can often be a bit dire, with the teams aware they’re in the first minutes of a 180 minute match.
4′ – We’re also seeing effort at its highest early on. Some interesting examples of this: Mesut Özil doing some tracking of Toni Kroos through midfield in the first minute, Franck Ribery being even with left back David Alaba when intervening on a long diagonal for Angel Di Maria.
3′ – First time either keeper has had been active sees a cross snatched up by Iker Casillas. Seconds later, a ball rolled into the six by Karim Benzema is swallowed up by Manuel Neuer.
0′ – And we’re off. Bayern kicks off, moving from right to left.
[limbo] – The Champions League anthem is done, and we’re moments before kickoff. Have to say I’m still surprised by Kroos getting the nod above Müller. Don’t like it or dislike it, though I’m excited Toni Kroos is getting the call on such a big stage.
[limbo] – I’d also like to apologize ahead of time for messing up your favorite player’s name. And to confirm your suspicions now: Yes, I did intentionally mess it up. It almost certainly wasn’t an innocent mistake.
[limbo] – I have some shocking news: The match is not kicking off exactly at 2:45 p.m.
-2′ – It’s rare you get to see the stadium before the match. We’re used to pundits getting in their last words, but this time we get a treat: The announcement of Bayern’s lineup to the Allianz crowd. For each FCB player, the PA announce will say the first name (“Arjen …”) and let the crowd should the last (“Robben!”).
-3′ – Subs for todays match … Bayern: Butt, Rafinha, Contento, Pranjic, Tymoshchuk, Olic, Muller (who I mistakenly, by reflex, put in the starting lineup); Real Madrid: Adan, Marcelo, Albiol, Varane, Kaka, Granero, Higuain.
-8′ – Just a reminder of our lead-in to today’s match. The take away message: Arjen Robben is real good, real important, and Bayern really wants to win.
-10′ – We’re about 15 minutes from kickoff at the Allianz Arena in Munich, and from now until the final whistle, we’re going to be providing updates here.
Real Madrid is in Germany to face Bayern Munich, the clubs having won a combined 13 European Cups. Today is the first leg of their Champions League semifinal, the winner moving on to face either Barcelona or Chelsea on May 19 at this very same venue.
The lineups have been in for a while, here they are:
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1/4-4-2): Manuel Neuer – David Alaba, Holger Badstuber, Jerome Boateng, Phillip Lahm – Bastian Schweinsteiger, Luiz Gustavo – Franck Ribery, Toni Kroos, Arjen Robben – Mario Gomez
Real Madrid (4-2-3-1/4-4-2): Iker Casillas – Fábio Coentrão, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Alvaro Arbeloa – Sami Khedira, Xabi Alonso – Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Özil, Ángel Di María – Karim Benzema
Kick-off is at 2:45 p.m. ET. If you have FOX Soccer, check in there. If not, we’ll do our best to keep you up to date.
