A double from Joselu took Real Madrid to the Champions League final this Wednesday after returning and winning 2-1 on the hour mark against Bayern Munich in the semi-final second leg of the top European tournament.
After the 2-2 first leg in Munich, Alphonso Davies opened the scoring for Bayern (68). Still, Joselu's two goals (88, 90) gave Real Madrid the ticket to Wembley, where another German team will be measured in the final, Borussia Dortmund, who beat Paris Saint-Germain the day before.
Real Madrid, after a new exercise in resistance, returns to a Champions League final two years after they beat Liverpool in Paris to lift their fourteenth European champion title.
"It has happened again, it is something inexplicable, it is the magic of this club, of a fan that pushes in a fantastic stadium and some players who do not stop believing that something magical can be done," said Carlo Ancelotti when asked about the umpteenth comeback.
The white team dominated the match on a new magical night in their stadium. Still, it crashed again and again on an immense Manuel Neuer until Joselu, who came in for Rodrygo (81), beat the German goalkeeper in a blunder after Vinícius' shot.
"You can always make mistakes, and that mistake had to be made just today after a world-class match. Manuel does not deserve that mistake," said Thomas Tuchel, coach of the German team.
The meringues took the lead early in the game, with a ball from Dani Carvajal that crossed in front of the goal line without Rodrygo (6) being able to reach it.
Bayern responded with a through ball to Serge Gnabry, who shot to cross (8).
Real Madrid pushed the German team into their field in the first half hour.
Neuer, almost a wall
After a quarter of an hour, Vinícius hit the post, and the rebound was finished off by Rodrygo in the goal, for goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (13) to shine.
The two Brazilians were a nightmare for the Bavarian defense, but they could not get past the Bayern goalkeeper.
Vinícius was about to surprise Neuer with a poisoned cross, but the German goalkeeper sent it for a corner (40).
"What (Vinicius) has contributed in this semi-final can be done by very few players, now there is a final in which he will be the protagonist," said Ancelotti.
Neuer would once again frustrate a point-blank shot by Vinicius (60) and a foul from the edge of Rodrygo that forced the German goalkeeper to fly (59).
Bayern found a way to stop Real Madrid with long possessions and move the ball from one side of the field to the other without threatening Andriy Lunin's goal.
However, in the first half, Real Madrid's Ukrainian goalkeeper showed a great hand to deflect a volley from the edge of Harry Kane (27).
After the break, Bayern came out more threatening, with a new warning from Kane that Lunin cleared (54).
Bayern began to arrive more with their fast men, like Jamal Musiala's shot, which Lunin took (66).
Final controversy
Real Madrid's Ukrainian goalkeeper, who appears against Manchester City in the quarterfinals, could not do anything in the 68th minute when Davies came from the side, cut back Rüdiger and unleashed a cross-shot into the top corner. It was unstoppable.
¡¡GOL DEL BAYERN!! ¡¡DAVIES PARA EL 1-0 ANTE REAL MADRID EN ESPAÑA!!
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— SportsCenter (@SC_ESPN) May 8, 2024
Real Madrid had the chance to tie it up with a Bayern Munich goal, but a previous foul by Nacho annulled the goal after a VAR review (71).
Despite Madrid's dominance, the German victory seemed to be consummated, but at the whistle, Neuer failed to block an apparently easy shot from Vinícius, and Joselu finished off the rebound at the goalmouth to tie (88).
Two minutes later, the merengue striker finished off a cross from Rüdiger to make it 2-1 (90).
¡¡VALE!! ¡¡DOBLETE DE JOSELU Y AGÓNICO 2-1 DE REAL MADRID!! INCREÍBLE.
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— SportsCenter (@SC_ESPN) May 8, 2024
Initially flagged for offside, the goal was validated after a VAR review.
The discount was a new exercise of resistance against a desperate Bayern that saw how Matthijs de Ligt was not awarded a goal with time already expired due to a previous offside (90+10).
"He must let the play continue until the end. It is the rule, even more so when it is a goal-scoring play and it is at the limit. The first error is the linesman's fault, the second is the referee's. This decision is an absolute disaster," criticized Tuchel.
