It is the end of the Champions League semi-finals and the end of the road for Bayern Munich. We are all set for a Madrid derby in Milan, a repeat from the final in 2014. The Men from Madrid will clash but first, we will take a look at how both teams got there.
Real and City marginally more exciting
Both of these teams owed fans a lot considering the absolutely horrid affair that they had the audacity to call a Champions League semi-final first leg in Manchester. As it stands, we got something that was more exciting, but only just so. It wasn’t as boring as the first leg where I found myself checking my e-mail or looking outside to see if the grass was growing at an appropriate rate, but I also found Twitter more exciting than the match in Madrid.
For the most part, Real Madrid controlled this game by almost any metric. They maintained 55% possession throughout the game, with 27% of the match spent in City’s third of the pitch and 47% being in the middle.
The most telling statistic however is that Real Madrid took 15 shots with 5 on target, whereas Manchester City only had 5 shots with 1 of them on target. That was basically this entire match in a nutshell.
Eventually Gareth Bale broke the deadlock with a really sublime goal that was probably meant to be a cross until it took a slight deflection off of Fernando, gifting the tie to Real Madrid. Even though it was a fairly weak way to end the tie, it was deserved considering that Real Madrid were the better team on the night in terms of attacking.
As far as Manchester City goes, expect them to spend big this summer. Pep Guardiola probably will be none too pleased at the way that their midfield passively gave the ball away and how they more or less caved to Real Madrid. Manchester City has done very well and is no longer the joke that they once were in the Champions League, but there is a lot of work to be done. All I can say to Manchester City is this; buckle up and try to enjoy Pep Guardiola’s wild ride.
Bayern almost good enough
This game is sad, because in many ways it was some of if not the best football we have seen under Guardiola and far and away the best football that Bayern has played in the Champions League this season. If not for the Saúl Ñíguez and his Messi impression in the first leg, Bayern may have been able to pull this one off.Some have tried to blame Pep Guardiola for this tie, and that is a mistake. Das Pep got basically everything right in this game. The team played far more direct, there were overlapping runs from Franck Ribéry and
David Alaba and the team played directly with exquisite long balls from Jérôme Boateng and Xabi Alonso that often went directly to Robert Lewandowski often. Unfortunately, Bayern simply could not capitalize on some of their chances due to Atlético Madrid’s stellar defensive effort, which was somewhat reminiscent of Chelsea’s; such is life and football.
The biggest moment that will stick out for Bayern Munich fans is the penalty that Thomas Müller missed. It really was a horrible penalty and had he made it Bayern would find themselves in the Champions League final. But overall, even Müller put in a good shift and none of the players on the pitch could qualify as having a bad performance. Be sure to read the player ratings here.
Atlético Madrid were Atlético Madrid and did everything you would expect. They defended incredibly well, they hit, elbowed, and fouled somehow only drawing 10 fouls from the referee. Plus there is that mysterious
“penalty” that Fernando Torres drew from an admittingly clumsy tackle from Javi Martínez but karma proved that it may just in fact exist as the penalty was taken just as poorly as Müller’s and Manuel Neuer was more than equal to it. But all it took was one quick turn that could have been called offside (though it looked onside in replays just ever so slightly played on by David Alaba) and Antoine Griezmann was one on one with Neuer and scored the goal that would send Atlético Madrid to the final.
Sure, things could have gone better in the first leg for Bayern Munich. But overall, the team and the fans can walk away from this tie with their heads held high. The team played stunningly good football and from a very small margin of error, they just barely failed to make the final.
Make sure you do not miss Bayern Central’s more extensive coverage of this match with stats focus, tactical analysis, and post-match thoughts.
Preparing for next season
Now, all we can do is sit back and enjoy another Madrid derby final or do something productive, like mow the lawn or check Goal.com to laugh at their silly rumors. Meanwhile, Bayern will prepare for next season in the Champions League with Carlo Ancelotti.CREDIT TO:http://www.bayerncentral.com/2016/05/champions-league-wrap-madrid-final/
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