Bayern Munich have served real notice of their intent.
Vincent Kompany and his players departed the pitch at the Bernabeu celebrating the Germans’ first win over Real Madrid for 14 years, and their first in this arena over 90 minutes for a quarter of a century.
That they might actually have ended partly frustrated to be taking only a one-goal advantage back to Bavaria sums up how well they played — up to a point.
Madrid endured chastening moments. They will be braced for more next week in the return. But they are not out of this tie just yet.
This always had the feel of a sumptuous occasion between two of Europe’s heavyweights, and that sense was merely reinforced from the outset. Bayern were slick in possession and silkily incisive as they exposed Madrid’s ragged back line.
They led at the interval courtesy of Luis Diaz’s well-taken goal, the culmination of a fine passing move before Serge Gnabry sent the Colombian through. But their advantage might have been greater. Dayot Upamecano had somehow contrived to miss from inside the six-yard box early on. Gnabry, too, should have prospered as the hosts laboured to beat Bayern’s cleverly orchestrated press. Andriy Lunin felt stretched far too often.
And yet this was far from one-way. Madrid, particularly on the counter, carried a proper threat of their own, and Manuel Neuer had to react sharply to deny Kylian Mbappe, twice, and Vinicius Junior before the break.
Yet, with the locals on edge, Madrid needed to start the second half strongly. Instead, they imploded.
Alvaro Carreras’ mistake presented possession to Michael Olise, who advanced and squared for Harry Kane. The England striker’s finish was whipped beyond Lunin from just outside the box and, 22 seconds after the re-start, his 49th goal of a staggering season had established the visitors’ superiority.
At least that stirred Madrid into action. Vinicius Jr — who could find only the side-netting after Upamecano’s error had sent him clean through — might have halved the deficit, and the latest excellent save from Neuer prolonged Mbappe’s frustration. Yet no side has blunted Madrid at the Bernabeu in this competition since December 2018, and the Frenchman would not be thwarted.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, one of those at fault at the opening goal of the night, marauded forward and fizzed in a glorious cross, which Mbappe converted at the far post. The striker had gone five club games without a goal ahead of this match. His riposte at least gives his team some hope of recovering the tie.
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Will anyone stop Harry Kane & Co?
In moments, Bayern looked like European champions-elect at the Bernabeu.
Olise produced, arguably, the best Champions League performance of his Bayern career. The former Crystal Palace forward was stylish and destructive and hurt Madrid almost every time he touched the ball.
Harry Kane’s goal — his first ever from outside the box in this competition — even looked like it had put Madrid away for good; 2-0 might have become three at various points. That’s how potent Bayern were.
But Kompany will know that, as good as his side were and as watchable as the attacking football was, this win owed much to the performance of the ageless Neuer in goal. Neuer, who turned 40 only 11 days ago, produced a succession of excellent saves — and one outstanding one to deny Mbappe — to mask an unsure performance from the players ahead of him.
At this level, no weakness can be dismissed. Bayern will feel good about their position in the tie and confident of progressing. If they do so, they will break a sequence of defeats to Madrid in knockout games that runs all the way back to 2012.
But at the same time, they were far from invulnerable at the Bernabeu and having held such a commanding position, they did not control the game as well as they might have done or put it away in the manner that would really have made a resounding statement.
This is nitpicking; they were still very good. It was an excellent night,
just not quite perfect.
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
How did Upamecano miss that chance?
Ask any coach who has won the Champions League, and they will tell you that they needed luck along the way. Any team that has lifted that trophy has scored the right goal at the right time and used the resulting momentum to navigate the difficult moments within the knockout rounds.
Bayern might have had the perfect start in the Bernabeu. Harry Kane’s cutback really should have resulted in a goal for Upamecano. Alas, Kane’s pass was slightly behind Upamecano and bobbled, causing the Frenchman to be overly delicate in his finish and scuff the ball, allowing it to be cleared from under the crossbar.
Upamecano has been Bayern’s best defender for 18 months now, but he has also evolved into an outstanding footballing centre-back, equipped with the technique that still should have made that chance a formality.
Had he done so, it might have flattened a Madrid side who briefly rallied in the period that followed, forcing Neuer into three outstanding saves down the other end.
Bayern did end up taking the lead late in the first half, Serge Gnabry making up for his own miss with a perfect slide-rule pass for Luis Diaz, but it was an early reminder of the small moments upon which ties can change.
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
Luis Diaz’s trademark reward
Luis Diaz continued his excellent debut season at Bayern Munich by opening the scoring at the Bernabeu, logging his fifth goal in nine games in European competition. Crucially, it was a goal that was in keeping with the attacking prowess he has shown so often for the German champions.
Diaz was being closely watched by former Liverpool team-mate Alexander-Arnold when pulling wide towards the touchline, with Real Madrid’s Fede Valverde occasionally dropping in to the back line to stave off any further threat when Diaz received the ball.
However, the 29-year-old’s sharp, purposeful runs into the penalty area are harder to track as he darted on the blind side of Alexander-Arnold to receive Gnabry’s perfectly-weighted pass behind Madrid’s defensive line — slotting the ball first time to put Bayern ahead.
Those are actions that Diaz has been performing all season.
Per Opta, no Bayern Munich player has made more runs in behind the opposition defence than the Colombia international’s 80 in league and European competition.
Before this evening’s quarter-final, no Champions League side had clocked up more line-breaking key passes (passes that lead to a shot) than Bayern. People should know by now that the pattern for Diaz’s goal is archetypal for what they do under Vincent Kompany.
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For all of the attacking talent on show in Madrid, the best players on the night were wearing red shirts rather than white. Olise and Kane were impactful once more, but it was Diaz who kick-started proceedings with a run and finish that is as clinical as he has been all season.
Mark Carey
What would Thomas Tuchel have made of Alexander-Arnold?
Alexander-Arnold has had a difficult first season at the Bernabeu, with regular injury setbacks not helping. There have been a few outstanding assists for Mbappe’s goals, but his defending has been questioned — most recently for his role in allowing Mallorca to score a late winner in the 2-1 defeat last weekend.
The right-back would also have been aware that England coach Thomas Tuchel was at the Bernabeu. Tuchel has made clear that he prefers other options for the right-back position at the moment. But such a high-profile game offered Alexander-Arnold a chance to show why he deserves a recall for this summer’s World Cup.
Unfortunately, this performance is unlikely to have made Tuchel change his mind.
Midway through the first half, he made a chance for himself by being sharp to anticipate and intercept a Manuel Neuer long throw, but the shot was blocked.
The full-back’s role in the opening goal will have been the most damaging. Not for the first time in the game — or his Madrid career — an ambitious attempt to spread the play went awry, with the ball instead going straight to a Bayern player.
Seconds later, Bayern’s pinged passes had prised the hosts apart, with Gnabry playing the ball behind a disorganised Madrid back line that saw centre-back Dean Huijsen drawn out of position and left-back Alvaro Carreras much too deep.
Alexander-Arnold still really should have tracked Diaz. Instead, he appeared to lose focus on where his former team-mate was… until it was too late.
Tuchel is not the first England manager to conclude that Alexander-Arnold’s technical ability on the ball does not compensate enough for a tendency for defensive lapses.
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The surging run and excellent cross to set up Mbappe’s goal to get one back were really impressive and showed what he is capable of bringing going forward. But whether that eclipses the worries at the other end remains to be seen.
Dermot Corrigan
Manuel Neuer remains elite
Not a lot can phase Manuel Neuer these days. With 40 years of experience, you can understand why (yet another) trip to the Bernabeu was unlikely to be met with much fear.
For all of the dominance that Bayern exerted across the game, Neuer was called into action more than he would have liked, making nine saves in total — more than in any other league or European game this season.
All the greatest hits were on show: getting down low to tip a shot past the post, smothering the ball during any potential one-vs-ones, and batting away any attempt on goal with his steely arms.
He even almost saved Mbappe’s scuffed effort from no more than two yards out for Bayern’s only concession of the evening.
Back in Germany, Neuer’s performances have attracted questions as to just how much longer he can stay at the top of his game, given his age. He is not the same player he once was, but pressure brings out the best in the elite.
Bayern’s goalkeeper rolled back the years with a performance that was befitting of a player half his age.
Mark Carey
Where does this leave Madrid?
Madrid came out of the dressing room at half-time revved up, looking to get back into the game. But within 22 seconds, a second defensive-system breakdown of the night saw them in real trouble in the tie.
Left-back Carreras wanted to push on and make something happen, but lost out when diving in for a loose ball in midfield, leaving Bayern’s dangerman Olise completely free behind him — inadvisable.
There were shrieks of frustration from the stands, and at 2-0 down at home, Madrid were really up against it. A potential humiliation seemed possible.
But, even though Bayern continued to look the better team, Madrid’s galactico attackers kept creating chances to get their team back into the game. Vinicius Jr had an off night, but Mbappe finally managed to force one past the outstanding Neuer to make it 2-1.
All the frantic attacking made for great entertainment, but Madrid’s lack of organisation would have had many tactical experts (perhaps including former coach Xabi Alonso) tearing out their hair. Bayern could have made it 3-1 at various points late on, but Mbappe could also have equalised with a late 20-yarder which flew just wide. It was that kind of night.
Since replacing Alonso in January, Alvaro Arbeloa has spoken a lot about Madrid’s history of stirring Champions League victories, where tradition and individual inspiration have so often triumphed over logic and tactical sophistication. The rookie coach has to lean into this narrative, given his own inexperience at the top level and the lack of balance in the squad he has taken over.
Madrid’s problems in defence and lack of organisation on the pitch will probably be punished next week by Bayern in the second leg. Especially with holding midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni suspended after being booked.
But when you have this much talent in your attack, the Bernabeu outfit have often shown before that anything is possible for them in this competition.
Dermot Corrigan
What did Arbeloa say?
Speaking to Movistar TV, the Real Madrid head coach said: “We’re still alive. We just need one goal to equalise the tie, and we’re capable of winning at any stadium. We showed that with the chances we had, against a rival we knew would not make it easy at all. 0-2 would have been very difficult to turn around. But it was a pity not to score any of the other chances we had.”
On the first-half problems: “We were a bit too deep, above all (against) their wingers. It was not our idea to drop so deep; we knew they would put people behind us, but maybe that gave them too much control.
On Bayern’s second goal: “We had talked a lot about being careful about losing the ball (in dangerous areas), and protecting ourselves. Before the game, and at half-time, but we’d not had time to sit down almost when their goal came. It was a blow, but we responded well. The team showed character again. Both their goals came from losses of possession, not sustained attacks. We leave feeling we could have scored more goals, but we’re still alive heading to Munich.”
“I told them that a goal would get us back in the game; we did not have to go crazy and take too many risks. Losing 3-1 would also have made things much more difficult. You have to keep your heads, which is not easy in these situations, but we are confident we can play a great game there.”
What did Kompany say?
Speaking to TNT after the game, the Bayern manager said: «This stadium (Bernabeu) changes in the last 15 minutes; you have to be up for the battle. We can create the same experience at the Allianz Arena. We are looking forward to it.
«We had some chances we should have put to bed. Hopefully, we will score at the Allianz. I see no reason we can’t go on to win, but Real Madrid has incredible talent.
«The team has earned the right to be themselves, they have won so much and performed so well, so my first changes (substitutions) were like-for-like. But towards the end, I did shut up shop.»
On the player of the match performance by goalkeeper Manuel Neuer: «He makes it look so easy. With great goalkeepers, they make incredible saves at incredible angles look so easy. He is still very good with his positioning, defending the back line.
«We won’t win the competition without more of these kinds of performances.»
What is next for Real Madrid?
Friday, April 10: Girona (Home), La Liga, 8pm UK, 3pm ET
What is next for Bayern Munich?
Saturday, April 11: St Pauli (Away), Bundesliga. 5.30pm UK, 12.30pm ET