Ronaldo rallies Madrid with pair
Comeback has defending champs in good shape against Bayern
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice for Real Madrid to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final Wednesday in Munich, ending the German side’s tournament record of 16 straight wins at home.
Ronaldo’s second-half goals saw him become the first player to score 100 goals in European club competition. The Portuguese star authored the comeback — after Arturo Vidal’s 25th-minute header for Bayern — to put the defending champions on course to reach the semifinals for a seventh successive year.
The second leg takes place in Madrid on Tuesday.
“We are still alive,” Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti said after losing to his former side.
Also Wednesday, Antoine Griezmann converted a first-half penalty for Atletico Madrid to beat Leicester 1-0 at home, and Borussia Dortmund lost 3-2 at home to Monaco in the quarter-final rescheduled from Tuesday, when three explosions targeted the German team’s bus.
Bayern was without club top-scorer Robert Lewandowski after he failed to recover from a knock to his right shoulder. But it had not been beaten at home in the competition since April 2014, when it lost 4-0 to Ancelotti’s Madrid in the semifinals. Madrid went on to win the title that season.
Ancelotti’s successor at Madrid, Zinedine Zidane, is bidding to become the first coach to lead a side to back-to-back titles in the Champions League era.
“We suffered here but all-in-all it’s not easy to play here. They have a great team and great players,” Zidane said. “We needed patience to decide the match. I think it’s a good result for us. The key was patience.”
Penalty kick winner
Antoine Griezmann converted a first-half penalty kick to give Atletico Madrid a 1-0 win over Leicester in their first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals in Madrid, keeping the Spanish club on track to make it to the final for a second straight season.
Griezmann coolly scored from the spot in the 28th minute by sending goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel the wrong way with a firm strike into the left corner.
The penalty came after Griezmann was clipped by Leicester defender Marc Albrighton after making a long run down the left flank.
Griezmann appeared to be still outside the area when he was fouled.
“We played a very good game,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. “Maybe we needed to be a bit more aggressive to get a better result, but we have to understand that even after going down a goal our opponent stayed playing tightly on defence. They were clearly looking to take that result to the second match.”
Simeone’s Atletico is trying to reach the semifinals for the third time in four seasons, while Leicester — the shock Premier League winner last season — is looking to make another stunning title run in its debut in the Champions League.
“To come here and still be in the game was the main objective,” Leicester midfielder Andy King said. “We know we are strong at home and I am sure we can cause them problems.”
The second leg is Tuesday in England.
Wednesday’s win extended Atletico’s unbeaten run in all competitions to nine matches. It has conceded only two goals in its last eight games.
Atletico has won 29 of its last 35 games in European competitions at the Vicente Calderon.