Road win gives Madrid control against Bayern
Spanish side earns 2-1 victory in Munich
MUNICH — For once, Real Madrid didn’t need Cristiano Ronaldo to score.
After finding the net in every Champions League game this season, Ronaldo let others grab the spotlight Wednesday as Madrid ended Bayern Munich’s unbeaten record at home this season with a 2-1wininthefirstlegoftheirChampions League semifinal.
The Portuguese star did beat Bayern goalkeeper Sven Ulreich with a spectacular effort in the second half, but what would have been his 16th Champions League goal of the campaign was ruled out for using his arm to control the ball.
Instead, Madrid relied on Marcelo and halftime substitute Marco Asensio to produce a comeback after Bayern had gone in front through Joshua Kimmich.
Marcelo equalized before the interval against the run of play and Asensio then combined with Lukas Vazquez to claim a second away goal for Madrid 12 minutes into the second half.
The result puts the two-time defending champions in a favourable position before the second leg in Madrid next Tuesday, though Zinedine Zidane’s side will be wary after conceding three goals at home
to Juventus in the previous round.
“We’ve taken the first step,” said Madrid captain Sergio Ramos.
Bayern had to substitute the injured Arjen Robben and Jerome Boateng in the first half, but had plenty of chances to score more goals with Franck Ribery, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Mueller all missing good opportunities.
“We didn’t have as many big chances against Hannover last week. Real won 2-1 away, so they have the edge, but we’ll throw everything into it,” Kimmich said of the second leg.
Bayern, which is chasing a treble in Jupp Heynckes’ last season in charge, was hoping to make up for last year’s quarter-final exit to Madrid.
Roy Makaay scored the fastest Champions League goal after 10 seconds for Bayern against Madrid in 2007. Mueller would have rivalled it had he been able to make more of a chance created by Lewandowski.
“There was a lot more possible,” Mueller said.
“That hurts, but also shows that there’s something in the return game. We had to get a much better result. We were too naive.”
Madrid had started to settle midway through the half before Kimmich struck.
Buoyed by the goal, Bayern’s players suddenly found spaces, but Ribery wasted a good opportunity to double the lead.
Instead, Marcelo levelled the score shortly before the break.