Bayern Munich Controls All but the Final Score
MADRID - Bayern Munich got the ball, again and again and again. But Real Madrid got the goal.
That was the takeaway after one leg of this two-game Champions League semifinal, as the German champions controlled possession throughout a tense game in the Spanish capital but Madrid struck decisively on the counterattack to take a slim 1-0 lead into next Tuesday's return match at the Allianz Arena.
In truth, Real Manager Carlo Ancelotti was probably more pleased about the zero in the score line than the one. By keeping Bayern from recording an away goal, which serves as a tiebreaker, Madrid will travel to Germany knowing that any goal it scores there is essentially worth two.
Ancelotti will also hope to have a fully fit team in Germany, as Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been battling knee and thigh injuries, started the game but was substituted after 73 minutes. He was replaced by Gareth Bale, who could not start after a bout with the flu.
Even with his ailments, Ronaldo played a critical part in setting up Karim Benzema's 19th minute goal while Los Blancos stymied Bayern Manager Pep Guardiola's vintage possession game. Bayern had the ball for two-thirds of the game and took 13 corner kicks but could not break through in a game that was both intense and chippy.
Real and Bayern have their own domestic rivals but there is clearly a strong - some might say festering - connection between the sides in Europe, as they have continually butted heads on big stages. This was the sixth time the two met in the semifinals of the Champions League. It was their 21st meeting over all (Bayern has won 11).
Put simply, the clubs are among the kings of Europe: Real has nine European Cup titles to Bayern's five, but the Germans have been more productive recently. Bayern won the Champions League at Wembley last year and lost in the final in 2012.
This year, under Guardiola, they have continued in much the same fashion. Bayern shredded through the Bundesliga, clinching the league title by the end of March. Even with a different style under Guardiola, the ingredients are familiar enough: a steady defense led by goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, strong leadership from Philipp Lahm, midfield wizardry from Bastian Schweinsteiger and Toni Kroos and plenty of attacking from Mario Mandzukic and Arjen Robben. Wednesday's match was their first loss in their last 10 Champions League knockout round games.
Despite that, however, there was a sense of trepidation from Bayern at the start. The Bundesliga runaway, not surprisingly, led to a dip in form from the players. Guardiola has bemoaned a lack of crispness from his players recently. Bayern won just three of the seven games it played since securing the league title, and Guardiola admitted he was concerned in the buildup.
'We're in a dangerous situation,' he told reporters recently. 'When the focus isn't there, then the head is slow and everything happens a little slower.'
Slump or not, Madrid was surely wary of Guardiola, if only because of his track record in games at the Bernabeu. Guardiola entered Wednesday's game having never lost in six visits to Real's home, a statistic of particular note since his previous visits came while leading Madrid's bitter rival, Barcelona.
Not surprisingly, Guardiola played down his history, saying, 'My record here was with another team, in a different situation and in a different time.'
Real, too, would argue those games came during a different period. This year's team, led by Ronaldo but infused with the energy of Bale and the vision of Luka Modric (who was excellent Wednesday), is still grappling with Atlético Madrid for the league but has shown consistent poise in Europe. Los Blancos destroyed Schalke, 9-2 on aggregate in the Round of 16, then knocked off Borussia Dortmund, last year's finalists, 3-2 on aggregate in the quarterfinals.
Dortmund, of course, lost that final to Bayern when Munich was a powerful counterattacking force under the former coach Jupp Heynckes. This season, under Guardiola, the Bavarians play a more possession-based game - as Guardiola did with Barcelona - and it is Madrid that always looks to counter, breaking upfield immediately after taking the ball.
Madrid's first goal was clinical: it barely touched the ball over the first 20 minutes of the game, allowing Bayern to pass and move and dance without much trouble. Once Bayern lost possession, however, Los Blancos ripped forward with Ronaldo playing a perfect ball to Fábio Coentrão on the left side. A Portuguese left back, Coentrão laid a perfect crossing ball in front of the goal and Karim Benzema had an easy tap-in that sent the Bernabeu crowd roaring.
Madrid should have had a second - if not a third - before halftime, but Ronaldo inexplicably skied an open shot over the goal from about 12 yards and Ángel di María also could not keep his shot down from close range.
Bayern pushed to level the score late but had its best chance, a close-range blast from Mario Götze in the 84th minute, clawed away by Iker Casillas.
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