Real beats wasteful Bayern to make third final in row
MADRID: Holder Real Madrid reached the Champions League final for the third year in a row after Karim Benzema scored twice in a secondleg 22 draw with wasteful Bayern Munich yesterday to win their semifinal 43 on aggregate.
Bayern defender Joshua Kimmich had put the visiting side ahead after three minutes but Benzema levelled with a free header in the 11th. A goalkeeping howler from Sven Ulreich then allowed Benzema to tap in Madrid’s second just after the break.
James Rodriguez, on loan from Madrid, equalised for Bayern in the 63rd to set up a gripping finale but Real held on despite waves of pressure to become the first team since Juventus in 1998 to reach the final for three years in succession.
It will bid to become the first side since Bayern in 1976 to win the competition for three straight years.
‘‘This club’s DNA pushes you to fight until the end. We knew how to suffer together,’’ Real captain Sergio Ramos said.
‘‘They had more possession but overall we were better. This team deserves to be in Kiev.’’
Real rode its luck to win the first leg in Munich 21 after Bayern had missed a slew of chances and Zinedine Zidane’s side made the most of its few opportunities.
Bayern landed the first punch when Ramos failed to clear a cross and Kimmich gleefully knocked the ball home from close range.
It was the third consecutive home game in the Champions League knockout stages that Madrid had fallen behind, but it kept its composure and soon found an equaliser.
A superb crossfield ball from diminutive midfielder Luka Modric was controlled by Marcelo who delivered the perfect cross for Benzema to nod calmly in at the back post.
Ulreich lost his footing as he tried to control a back pass from Corentin Tolisso early in the second half, allowing Real striker Benzema to tap in the killer blow.
Bayern did create chances before and after Rodriguez’s goal but Navas denied the Colombia international while Mats Hummels headed wide from a corner in stoppage time.
It was Bayern’s fifth consecutive exit to a Spanish side, and third to Madrid in that time.
‘‘We had chances in the first leg, we were more dangerous today but in the end Real made fewer big mistakes,’’ Bayern defender Hummels said. — Reuters