Real punish sloppy Bayern: 3 things we learned
Real Madrid beat Bayern Munich 2-1 at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday, April 25. Here are three things we learned from the match.
Real Madrid came from behind to beat Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday. Here’s what we learned from the match.
You live by the Marcelo, you die by the Marcelo
Marcelo is an extraordinary player, a left-back of such skill and creativity he would probably be an upgrade on most teams’ attacking midfielders. For Real Madrid, however, he is, at least on the team sheet, a defender, and there are risks associated with playing him in the position Zinedine Zidane plays him.
There’s nothing wrong with pushing your full-backs forward — almost every team does it — but they either need to be adept at picking their moments or there needs to be someone to provide cover. Real failed to provide this cover on Wednesday, both in the buildup to the opener and for the remainder of the match.
This isn’t a new problem. Juventus targeted Marcelo’s side of the pitch in the second leg of the quarterfinal, scoring two of their goals from crosses on that flank, and Bayern’s first goal came down Marcelo’s side as well. They may have been even more clinical with that space had Arjen Robben not been forced off early in the first half.
But this is Marcelo, the world’s most absurd left-back, and so of course he produced the moment of brilliance that got his team back in the game. Real didn’t really deserve to be level after a first half in which they lacked creativity and made several strange decisions at the back, but there’s something to be said for having a world-class player in every position on the pitch.
Bayern injuries piling up
Bayern started the game without two regulars in David Alaba and Arturo Vidal, and lost two more in the first half, as first Robben and then Jerome Boateng were forced off with injury. Niklas Sule and, in particular, Thiago Alcantara are two excellent players to be able to bring of the bench, but there’s no positive way to spin the loss of four regular starters.
It’s a sign of Bayern’s strength in depth they responded as seamlessly as they did, with Thomas Muller sliding out to the wing and Alcantara playing alongside James Rodriguez in midfield. They created more good chances than the visitors, and would have finished with a draw if not for some poor finishing.
Even so, it felt somehow symbolic that Rafinha, starting only because of an injury to Alaba, made the mistake that ultimately cost Bayern the match. These things happen, players make mistakes, but at this level, where there’s a world-class player almost everywhere you look, injuries take their toll.
Lewandowski, Ribery miss golden chances
Real were lucky to win. Their goals were the result of a moment of individual brilliance and a bad error by the opposition. Coupled with some not particularly convincing defending, that’s not, or at least it shouldn’t be, a recipe for victory. That it was owed much to poor finishing from Bayern and a couple of excellent Keylor Navas saves.
Bayern haven’t lost when Robert Lewandowski has scored this season, and when he was played through one-on-one with Navas in the 88th minute, it seemed he was about to keep that record intact, only to skew his shot wide. The miss followed two good Navas saves from Franck Ribery, which made amends for his poor effort on Kimmich’s opener.
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Bayern led the shot count 17-7 overall, and looked dangerous out wide and on set pieces. This was a bad loss — it’s unlikely Real will be so flat in the return leg — but Jupp Heynckes can take some heart from his side’s overall performance. They were far from perfect, but they showed enough to suggest a comeback’s still possible.