Quarterfinal bounce
Cristiano Ronaldo gets 100th point in win over Bayern Munich
MUNICH, Germany — Bayern Munich coach Carlo Ancelotti reckons his side can turn around its Champions League quarterfinal tie despite losing 2-1 at home to Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Real Madrid on Wednesday.
Ronaldo’s double took his tally in European club competitions to 100 as 10-man Bayern, which had Javi Martinez sent off, was left to rue a missed first-half penalty.
The Bavarians should have been up 2-0 at the break, but Arturo Vidal, who headed the host into the lead, skied his spot-kick.
The game turned after the break as Ronaldo equalized and Real dominated Bayern with the numerical advantage, peppering the host’s goal.
Ronaldo sealed the deserved victory by reaching the 100-goal milestone in the 77th minute before Real captain Sergio Ramos had a late header correctly ruled out for offside.
“We don’t have a big chance, but we still have a chance — we’re still alive,” said Ancelotti of the return leg on Tuesday.
“They could have killed it by scoring another goal, but they didn’t.
“We had the game under control in the first half, but we lost our efficiency after the break.”
Ancelotti hopes to have striker Robert Lewandowski and defender Mats Hummels back from injury in the Spanish capital.
Bayern captain Philipp Lahm said Martinez’s dismissal, for two bookings, was the turning point.
Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer kept Bayern in the tie with a string of saves and believes his team can book a sixth straight semifinals berth.
“It’s important to finish the game with 11 men,” said Neuer, returning to action after foot surgery.
“We didn’t have so much possession and we were missing our usual self-assurance.
“It could have finished much higher, but we believe we can still do it.
“We were the best team in the second half and it could have been two or three nil up.”
Savored
Real coach Zinedine Zidane said Ronaldo was happy to claim his 100th European goal, but insisted the quarterfinal is far from decided.
“He was happy of course, but he wasn’t too happy as he had chances to score more goals,” said Zidane. “We’re all content, because it’s never easy to win at Bayern.”
Ronaldo savored his latest milestone.
“I wanted to reach this record. To be able to reach this mark is an honor and against a team like Bayern it is even better,” the Portuguese told BeIN Sport Spain.
Zidane warned the slender lead might not be enough in Madrid as the Spaniards bid to become the first club to retain the Champions League trophy.
“You never decide a tie like this in the first leg, but we created our chances and we could have scored more,” said Zidane.
“We’re happy with the game we played. We showed patience and we showed the willingness to get the right result.
“Even another goal would not have made that much difference. We’ll have to see if the one goal lead is enough.”
The Frenchman is hoping Welsh winger Gareth Bale will be fit for the return after withdrawing in the second half with a leg injury.
“Gareth felt something at halftime and I didn’t want to take any risks, he didn’t feel very well, we hope it’s nothing major, nothing big,” said Zidane, who was relieved Vidal botched his penalty.
“We could have been 2-0 down at halftime, which could have changed the match, but we managed to show some patience and get the equalizer,” he added.
“It was a different game after the break, we showed more personality and stole some ball off Bayern. Their goalkeeper made a lot of saves.
“We played 11 against 10 for the last 30 minutes and had a lot of possession. That’s what changed the match and the result.”