Born-again Ronaldo to the rescue
YOU will be familiar with the routine. A jump in the air, arms stretched down by his side, chest puffed out like a peacock then a roar of delight.
It is the Cristiano Ronaldo goal celebration, one you will have seen over and over in the Champions League down the years. Except not so much this season. In the competition he has almost made his own, Ronaldo incredibly had not hit the target since September 27.
It was never going to last and, just when his team needed him, Ronaldo did what he does best, ending an 11-hour drought with two strikes in 30 minutes which have put ten-man Bayern Munich on the brink of elimination.
Bayern, really, should be out and it was only down to the brilliance of Manuel Neuer that they will travel to Madrid with a glimmer of hope. The best goalkeeper in the world did all he could to stop Zinedine Zidane’s men running riot but his best could not thwart Ronaldo.
Before kick-off there was a warm embrace between master and apprentice, Bayern boss Carlo Ancelotti and Zidane sharing a joke to defuse the tension.
The Champions League is an obsession for both clubs. Real Madrid’s appetite for a 12th success is insatiable, while Bayern’s desire to claim a sixth title borders on the fanatical.
Not surprisingly, the early exchanges mirrored the opening rounds of a heavyweight title fight. They jabbed and jousted, danced around sizing each other up, both had total conviction in their ability to win, neither wanted to be on the end of the first blow.
Madrid found their stride quickest. In the first 15 minutes, they played the most convincing football and had it not been for a stunning save from Neuer, a 15thminute lead would have been theirs. Karim Benzema had almost begun to wheel away in celebration when he got his head to Toni Kroos’ in-swinging cross but Neuer flung himself to tip the ball on to the bar.
It jolted Bayern into life and, in the 26th minute, Ancelotti’s men had the lead. Arturo Vidal had initially forced a corner with a thumping volley that Gareth Bale headed away but, from Thiago Alcantara’s set play, Vidal escaped his marker, Nacho, and planted a bullet header past Keylor Navas.
If only Vidal had been so assured in first-half stoppage time when Bayern were gifted a soft penalty after Dani Carvajal was judged to have handled. The Chilean thrashed his spot-kick high over the bar.
It changed the game and, within 90 seconds of the restart, parity had been restored with a glorious goal. Casemiro drilled a pass out to Carvajal, the right-back fizzed a first-time cross into the area and Ronaldo did the rest.
Suddenly black shirts swarmed forward and the sense of dread rose within the stadium. Only Neuer, repelling Bale’s header, kept their heads above water.
Yet there was only so much he could do and when Javi Martinez was expelled for two bookings, Real sensed blood. In such circumstances, nobody is more ruthless than Ronaldo and, in the 77th minute, he pounced to convert Marco Asensio’s cross.