Joselu’s late brace helps Real Madrid to secure a ticket to Wembley after defeating Bayern Munich in the Santiago Bernabeu on Thursday.

In the first leg of this highly anticipated clash in the UEFA Champions League semi final, both teams had to settle for a draw after a brace Vinicius Jr helped Real Madrid to equalize the two goals scored by Leroy Sane and Harry Kane for the German Side. Before the match, Thomas Tuchel made 3 changes as Min-jae Kim, Leon Goretzka and Thomas Muller made way for Matthijs de Ligt, Aleksandar Pavlović and Serge Gnabry respectively. On the other hand, Real Madrid made only one change as Dani Carvajal made his way into the lineup, replacing Lucas Vasquez.

Match Report: As it Happened

First Half

As the first half kicked off, Real Madrid tried to threaten the Bayern defense with early attacks. In the 2nd minute, Toni Kroos swung in a cross but the Bayern defense did enough to send the ball out for a corner. At the mark of the 6th minute, Rodrygo came really close to breaking the deadlock after a fabulous cross by Dani Carvajal, where the Brazilian failed to provide the touch.

The German side’s defensive struggles were seen again as at the mark of 13th minute, Vinicius Jr’s shot hit the crossbar. The Brazilian international tried again from the rebound but Manuel Neuer pulled up an amazing save to deny him. The attack raised controversy as two balls were seen in  the pitch. The Bayern defense focused on the other ball while the home side took a quick throw-in to spark up the attack. Problems arose for the German side as Serge Gnabry was forced off the field after he was struggling to carry on after what looked like to be a hamstring injury.

He was replaced by Canadian international Alphonso Davies. In the 29th minute, Harry Kane tried a shot from outside the box but Andriy Lunin did enough to keep it outside the goal. Near the end of the first half, Vinicius tries a curler, but Neuer does enough to deny him. After the end of the first half, Real Madrid had a possession of 58%, with 8 shots, out of which two hit the target. On the other hand, Bayern Munich had a possession of 42% with 2 shots, where both shots hit the target. The Spanish side finished with an xG of 0.70 while Tuchel’s men had a xG of 0.08.

Second Half

The second half started with a series of attacks from Bayern Munich. At the 47th minute, Alphonso Davies made a brilliant run, but his shot took touches from Dani Carvajal and Andriy Lunin to keep the deadlock intact. In the 55th minute, Vinicius Jr provided a beautiful cross to Rodrygo but his nudge missed the goal by a few inches. Few minutes later, Rodrygo took a direct free kick from 25 yards out, but it was saved by Manuel Neuer to deny the Brazilian international. At the mark of 66th minute, Jamal Musiala takes a shot from the edge of the box, but Lunin, yet again, rescues the Los Blancos.

The deadlock was finally broken by the visitors as Harry Kane did beautifully to find Alphonso Davies, and the Canadian international cut inside, beating Antonio Rüdiger and taking a curling shot, which beat the Ukrainian goalkeeper. Within 4 minutes, Federico Valverde scored from a corner taken by Luka Modric, but it was disallowed by VAR as Nacho pushed Joshua Kimmich inside the penalty box. At the mark of 76th minute, Jamal Musiala provided a wonderful pass to Harry Kane, who shot it wide. Rüdiger soon provided a wonderful cross to Vinicius Jr, who failed to keep it down.

At the mark of 88th minute, Vinicius Jr attempted to try his luck from the edge of the box to test Manuel Neuer, who failed to grip the shot, and Joselu did not fail to capitalize on that, drawing the scores level. Couple minutes later, Brahim Diaz found himself in a situation to put Los Blancos ahead, but his shot was blocked by Eric Dier. But the home side scored from the corner, as Rüdiger assisted Joselu, who scored at the 90+1 minute mark, providing a lead at the very last minute.

The goal was initially disallowed because of an offside decision, but VAR review later confirmed that it was allowed. This followed a series of urgent attacks from Bayern Munich, but the home team’s defense was composed enough to keep the lead. At the mark of 90+13 minute, Thomas Muller headed down a ball to Matthijs de Ligt, who scored, but the linesman ruled Noussair Mazraoui as offside. This gave rise to controversies again as on second looks, Mazraoui looked onside. The VAR also did not review this decision.

Real Madrid will now face Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League finals in Wembley on 2nd June, 12:30AM (IST)

Lineups

Real Madrid: Andriy Lunin; Antonio Rüdiger, Nacho, Ferland Mendy, Dani Carvajal; Toni Kroos (Luka Modrić, 69’), Aurélien Tchouaméni (Eduardo Camavinga, 70’); Rodrygo (Brahim Díaz, 81’), Jude Bellingham (Éder Militão, 90’), Federico Valverde (Joselu, 81’); Vinicius Junior

Bayern Munich: Manuel Neuer; Matthijs de Ligt, Eric Dier, Joshua Kimmich, Noussair Mazraoui; Konrad Laimer, Aleksandar Pavlović; Leroy Sané (Min-jae Kim, 76’), Jamal Musiala (Thomas Müller, 84’), Serge Gnabry (Alphonso Davies, 27’); Harry Kane (Eric Maxim Chupo-Moting, 85’)

Also Read: Paris St. Germain Vs Borussia Dortmund: UCL Semi-final Match Report