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Are you watching, Aurelio De Laurentiis? Eduardo Camavinga’s costly red card, Luis Diaz’s decision to leave Liverpool and all of the winners and losers from Bayern Munich’s Champions League classic with Real Madrid
One of the Italian’s preposterous proposals was to reduce the length of halves to 25 minutes, the folly of which was laid bare at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night. There were five goals during a gripping first period, with Bayern twice pegging back a resurgent Real only to see Kylian Mbappe put Los Blancos back in front just before break to make it 3-3 on aggregate.
It was anyone’s tie at that point, with the hosts dictating the play but Madrid looking absolutely lethal on the counter-attack. However, Eduardo Camavinga was sent off for a second bookable offence with less than five minutes of normal time remaining and Bayern capitalised, with Luis Diaz wresting the advantage back to the Bavarians before Michael Olise put the result beyond all doubt with a stunning strike in the dying seconds.
Below, GOAL runs through all of the major wins and losers on a dramatic night in Munich as Bayern beat Real 4-3 on the night, and 6-4 on aggregate…
WINNER: Luis Diaz
Luis Diaz was conspicuous by his absence at Anfield on Tuesday night. Liverpool sorely missed the Colombian’s dribbling skills and eye for goal during a desperately frustrating Champions League loss to Paris Saint-Germain.
In truth, though, it’s been that way all season, with the club’s fans lamenting the loss of a player who played such a pivotal role in last season’s Premier League title triumph – and Diaz’s fantastic form for Bayern Munich has only heightened the Reds’ sense of regret.
In fairness to Liverpool, €75 million (£65m/$88m) looked like a pretty good price for a winger set to turn 29 midway through the current campaign but Bayern believed they’d bagged themselves a bargain – and it’s really starting to look like they were right.
Diaz’s goal at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night was his 24th of the season – and easily his most important so far, as it broke Real’s resistance moments after they’d been reduced to 10 men.
Consequently, while Diaz’s former team-mates are now out of the Champions League, Diaz remains in contention to lift the trophy for the first time – and while playing the best football of his career.
For many players, leaving Liverpool is always a step down. In Diaz’s case, though, it’s elevated him to a whole other level.
LOSER: Goalkeeping
For all of the quality on show, this was a poor night for the goalkeepers.
Of course, both Andriy Lunin and Manuel Neuer were bound to be busy. This was always going to be a back-and-forth game between two defensively flawed teams. But while both stoppers really should have been spending their evening keeping their team in the game, they spent far more time threatening to throw it away.
Madrid’s opener was a remarkably preventable thing, Neuer simply passing the ball to Arda Guler, who finished superbly from miles out. Lunin one-upped him five minutes later by being shoved into his own net to hand Bayern an equaliser. Madrid’s second might also have been avoidable – not least because Neuer got a hand on Guler’s free kick.
To be sure, the duo of goalies provided some big stops. But both also made big mistakes. Not a great advert for the goalkeeper’s union.
WINNER: Bayern Munich
Bayern took a significant step towards ending a run of four consecutive Champions League knockout tie losses to Real Madrid by beating Los Blancos at the Bernabeu last week for the first time in 25 years.
However, nobody in Munich was taking anything for granted ahead of the second leg. Club legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge even warned in an interview with DAZN, “We mustn’t make the mistake of letting too much euphoria spread. Real Madrid have given us plenty of grief here in Munich over the years.”
At half-time on Wednesday night, they looked perfectly poised to pile even more misery on the Bavarians. Bayern may have been the better side during the opening 45 minutes but Mbappe & Co. were 3-2 up and looking lethal on the break.
Consequently, immense credit must go to Vincent Kompany and his players for maintaining their composure. Whereas Madrid ended up losing their heads during a frantic finale, Bayern kept theirs to finally break their Blancos curse.
“Real Madrid are Real Madrid; they are always a threat,” Kompany told DAZN afterwards. “But the boys were mentally strong today to recover from setbacks. We stayed calm and always felt that our moment would come.”
