Good evening, folks.
I’m excited – not gonna lie.
In many ways, this would’ve been the perfect final but we just have to get over the fact that one of these teams will miss out on a Champions League medal this season.
The pressure is firmly on Pep Guardiola. Brought to Bayern to win big in Europe, it hasn’t worked out that way at all and he’s probably still scarred from the semi-final in 2014, when Real Madrid humiliated them in Bavaria.
He faces a superb coach in Diego Simeone tonight, who has overseen Atleti reaching the final four of this competition twice in the last three seasons and who made it to the final two years ago.
The teams are in, by the way. So, let’s bring you the home side first.
And here’s how Bayern will look tonight.
The big news is that Thomas Muller has been dropped to the bench by Guardiola. He selects Robert Lewandowski as a lone striker with Kingsley Coman and Douglas Costa providing some support in wide areas. That means a central trio of Thiago Alcantara, Arturo Vidal and Xabi Alonso.
For Atleti, they have to deal with the big loss of Diego Godin in central defence while Lucas Hernandez also misses out. Ex-Manchester City player Stefan Savic slots in alongside Jose Maria Giminez. Elsewhere, Yannick Ferreira Carrasco is also injured with Augusto Fernnadez coming into the middle of midfield.
Here’s what happened when the sides last met in 1974.
That’s Franz Beckenbauer lifting the European Cup and Gerd Muller with that perfectly-maintained mustache.
Jumpers for goalposts.
It really should’ve been Atleti’s day too. The game was scoreless until the 114th minute when future Spanish coach Luis Aragones scored for them. But, with the last kick of the game, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck equalised and the game went to a replay.
TWO (yes, two) days later, Bayern hit four and that was that. Interestingly, a man called Muller scored twice.
A startling stat that shows the gulf in European success between Spain and Germany in recent years.
Lots of respect shown by Pep here. Dropping Muller – who is such a livewire and always a nuisance – in favour of some extra padding in midfield says much about how wary he is of being done by Atleti here. Teams are on the pitch, by the way.
KICK-OFF!
Quick shot from Saul Niguez but it’s easy for Neuer to gather. Nice edge to this early on – both sides high on energy.
Two Premier League ‘flops’ in the Atletico defence with Felipe Luis on the left of their defence. Savic, as mentioned previously, in the middle.
If you’re looking for a player in form, by the way, look no further than Fernando Torres. Five in his last six games. His best form since that glorious first season at Anfield, perhaps?
Atleti have started very well here – shutting Bayern down and getting tight. On the attack, they’ve been bright too. Moments ago, Alaba cheaply surrendered possession along the touchline and Guardiola threw his hands up in the air. Already he seems pretty pent-up.
A feeble effort from Torres as he cuts in from the right channel. But space opened up as Atleti countered from the halfway line.
GOAL! Saul Niguez!
CLOSE! There’s almost an immediate equaliser as Vidal gets to it before Jan Oblak and his header seems to float towards the corner only for Giminez to get back and head off the line from underneath his own bar.
WHAT. A. GOAL.
My word. Saul is so positive when he picks the ball up and jinks his way towards goal. Thiago doesn’t want to foul so he backs off. Then, he evades two challenges with some superb feet and as he looks up towards goal, he bends it to the far corner and it carefully kisses the inside of the upright before nestling in the net.
That was Norman Whiteside in 1985 all over again – with added tricks and fancy footwork.
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Ah, yes. Better call Saul, indeed. By the way, can anyone guess who his agent is?
Bayern just finding it very difficult to make slick passes count. Can’t remember when they’ve managed three in a row. As they try to get a little interchange to happen, along comes a misplaced delivery or an imposing Atleti player to quell the attack.
CLOSE! Costa narrowly misses the near post with a vicious, in-swinging free-kick from the right side. Oblak (and everyone else, really) was expecting a cross but he whipped it low and didn’t miss by much. Side-netting with the goalkeeper scrambling.
Lahm wants a penalty as Lahm lashes a strike towards goal after jinking inside a challenge and taking it on his left. Referee tonight is Mark Clattenburg and he waves away the protests.
VERY CLOSE! That’s route one stuff and very nearly a second for Atleti. There was a little flick and Griezmann was on it in a flash. He tried to push it past Neuer at his near post but the keeper got down to his left and stuck out a leg to block. Martinez and Alaba are really struggling to keep tabs on Atleti’s front two here. They’re causing big problems.
A bit better from Bayern but still no chance created since that Vidal header immediately after Saul’s goal. Coman shows pace down the right side before planting a simple cross right at Oblak at his near post. Moments later, Vidal shoots from distance but it’s wild.
It’s not going to be easy for Bayern to find a way past this Atleti defence, by the way, even without Diego Godin.
BOOKING! Saul races down the Atleti right side and burns Bernat. He’s eventually brought down by Costa who gets a yellow for his troubles.
CLOSE! This is a shop-window performance by Saul. He picks it up wide left and whips in a superb cross to the near post for Koke. He just tries to flick it towards goal but it takes a touch off a Bayern defender and rolls out for a corner.
HALF-TIME!
Well, that went by in a blink. And what a difference between that half and the entire Real Madrid v Manchester City game last night.
Desire, energy, determination and Bayern are on the ropes a little bit.
They’ve not had any answer to the speed of Atleti and their ability to play in a controlled frenzy of sorts – tackle like terriers but play the ball with precision and pace.
The goal from Saul was a moment of individual creativity that this part of the tournament is all about – superb skill and a magic finish.
Expect Bayern to push harder and make some changes if necessary but don’t write off their chances of conceding again. Martinez and Alaba have looked far from secure trying to deal with Griezmann and Torres.
The Bayern bench, for what it’s worth:
Ulreich (GK)
Tasci
Benatia
Ribery
Gotze
Muller
Kimmich
SECOND HALF!
Torres is faced with three Bayern defenders and holds it up. He goes to jink past one and…falls over himself. And it was going so well…
VERY CLOSE! Where did that come from? Alaba lines it up – it must be from close to 40 yards – and sends a screamer arrowing towards the top corner. But it crashes back down off the crossbar and bounces to safety. Magnificent effort…by the centre-back.
VERY CLOSE! Another big chance for Bayern and this is a bad miss. Martinez rises to meet the corner and he’s completely unchallenged in the middle of the area. No Atleti player even gets off the ground. And he sends it straight at Oblak who gets down and smothers. Big, big chance.
Bayern’s approach really is fascinating. They have both full-backs – Bernat and Lahm – pushing forward at every opportunity but moving inside so that they take up old-fashioned inside-right and inside-left positions. They have zero interest in overlaps and stretching the play but, instead, making things smaller and tighter.
CLOSE! A little flick by Vidal plays in Lewandowski in the area but he’s forced wider and wider before flashing a strike across Oblak. Angle was just too acute for him.
A little ‘coming together’ involving Giminez and Lewandowski. All sorted with a handshake. Nothing to see here.
SUBSTITUTION! Ribery (on) – Coman (off)
First change for Pep but it’s not Muller who comes in. A like-for-like replacement as the veteran winger takes up a place on the right side.
Apologies – Ribery is, of course, on the left wing. But, interestingly, he’s just popped up in the right channel as Bayern try to work a neat little move. To confirm, Costa remains on the right flank.
SUBSTITUTION! Muller (on) – Thiago Alcantara (off)
Second throw of the dice from Bayern and Muller is always so good at popping up with a crucial goal.
A very precise, but pertinent, stat for you with just over 20 minutes left.
Direct route from Bayern and Costa is through in the right channel. Not much on and no support so he looks to lob Oblak – good idea but execution needs some fine-tuning.
VERY CLOSE! Vidal cracks one from distance and it’s superbly hit. It’s heading for the top corner but Oblak gets close to it and beats it away. It was really moving, as evidenced by the fact the ball lands 20 yards away after the keeper makes the save.
VERY CLOSE! Oh, Fernando Torres! How close is that? Greta link-up with Griezmann who races towards goal. Torres peels to his right and picks up the pass. Alaba tracks him but the striker rolls back the years and brings it inside, totally bemusing the Austrian. The shot is heading towards the far corner and CLANG! It hits the post and Koke’s effort on the rebound is easily saved by Neuer.
SUBSTITUTION! Benatia (on) – Bernat (off)
A final change from Pep – can they force a late equaliser here?
BOOKINGS! A bit of time-wasting here. Koke tries to race down the touchline but runs the ball out of play. He plays on for a bit – trying to get the ball as high up the pitch as possible. So, Benatia comes across and slides in, taking him down late. Koke stays down, rolls around and the Bayern sub goes in the book. Neuer comes across to remonstrate with the Atleti midfielder and he picks up a yellow too.
SUBSTITUTION! Partey (on) – Saul Niguez (off)
Surely only good things can come of a player called Partey? We’ll see as he replaces the goalscorer – the impressive Saul.
BOOKING! Vidal gets a yellow card after a foul on Juanfran and time is ticking away for Bayern here.
Benatia gets up to get his head to a left-wing cross but it’s easy for Oblak. Moments later, Vidal latches onto a loose ball and it seems to fall perfectly for him. But he can’t get his foot over the ball and hits it into the ground. Oblak gleefully claimed it.
FULL-TIME!
That’s a fantastic result and performance from Atleti. From the very start, they made things uncomfortable for Bayern and when they needed it, they came up with some magic in front of goal.
Certainly, Pep Guardiola had a few words for his side at half-time and they did improve after the break. Alaba struck the crossbar with a ferocious shot from all over 40 yards while Vidal tested Oblak too but, even when they looked under pressure, Atleti went up the other end and struck the woodwork themselves through Torres.
Simeone and his players won’t fear a trip to Bavaria for the second-leg and they haven’t conceded a goal now since 9 April.
Advantage to them, without a doubt.
Thanks for staying with our coverage this evening. Plenty of further reaction still to come on the site.
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This summer that changeover could happen!
Fergie losing his touch when he can’t even choose the referee anymore.
Youd never know with Jose. If Barca played Real off the park he wouldnt admit they were better. When it comes to united and fergueson he has a lot of respect for them.
I think there is a certain sense of Mouinho playing to the crowd with this and maybe dropping the hint that we wants the United job. United got their tactics spot on last night in my opinion. That’s the best they’ve defended all season, absolutely superb!. When Nani was sent off, I felt the result was inevetable. Having an attacking force of Kaka, Alonso, Modric, Ronaldo coming at you with 10 men, it was always going to be an up-hill battle. For me it was never a red card. Nani at all times had it eye on the ball, never once looked at Arbeloa. Most media outlets, sports journalists and even Mourinho thinks it wasn’t a red! The only man who did was Roy Keane… Surprisingly!!!. Anyway, what’s done is done, United are out, somewhat in controversial fashion but the most important thing is to get focused for Chelsea on Sunday, we cannot allow a hangover to occur.
I agree 100% but Chelsea and the rest of the Premiership games will benefit from a wounded manager and wounded players, I can feel us scoring a lot of goals for the rest of the season.
That’s nonsense. Winners come out fighting after a result like last night’s. That’s exactly what will happen Sunday.
Ferguson need to get David Gill on the UEFA board ASAP to stop these unbiased ref’s coming to old toilet thing happening again. Fergie falling down the stairs in disbelief was a sight to behold. It was about time he got a taste of his own medicine. Please retire now you old badger we are all bored of your bullying. And your players at the end to the ref was disgusting, hope uefa take action and ban the lot if them! But will it happen? Did Drogba not get a 10 match ban for the same?
@ Paddy Fagan, I mean will benefit United to be wounded and we will score plenty as a result.
Thought that was funny alright. Rio clapping sarcastically right in the refs face, then 2 mins later he’s shaking the refs hand!? Drogba got done, Rooney got done, what’ll they do to Rio?!
They’ll do nothing as hopefully they have more sense than you and see it for what it was, players distraught to lose a game they had control of, venting some anger. Jesus if that’s your main talking point from that game, something’s not right…
Nope,he was lookin for a job when ferguson retires
I hope Arbeloa will be ok, ” the boy could have been killed”Ha Ha Ha!!!!
How many times are you going to post that?????
Jeez you really have just one joke don’t u…
In all fairness how times have people said FACT in Liverpool threads
Loads of times….. fact!
I thought over the 2 legs Madrid deserved it. As for Jose , everything he says is for a reason including this
How many times has a bad referee decision worked to united advantage? They can’t have teir own way all the time.where was Webb?
Fergie rested him for Sunday!
I’m nellie who r u
I’m nelly nice to meet you
The Real Madrid players were so incensed by Nani’s attempt to get the ball, they surrounded the ref, demanding a red card!! The reaction (or lack thereof) of the Real Madrid players is very telling as is Jose’s concession that United were the better team and played the better football. Roy Keane lost a lot of respect tonight for going down the ‘if they’re saying white, I’ll say black’ (a la Eamon Dunphy) school of punditry..Small wonder that he is totally unfit to be a soccer manager at a professional level.
And what about when Kompany tackled Nani last year. Didn’t even touch him but the united team were all over the ref demanding a red. I really hate the apparent hypocrisy of united fans. Your all big babies.
Makes no difference now but would anyone have given out had the referee not shown a red card? We will never know how the game would’ve played out 11 v 11 and that’s the sad part. A game that was perfectly balanced was in my opinion ruined by a very strange decision by a small little Turkish man.
Brian, as I said above, I think that the reaction (or lack thereof) of the Real Madrid players is very telling.
Not for the first and not for the last time. When are they going to introduce that technology to allow refs see slow motion and then make decision?
I agree fizi.
The problem with video technology for incidents like this is deciding when to use it within a match – is it just for incidents that the ref partially saw? Or the players highlight to him? How many times can you stop play in one match to check with TMO? TMO suits rugby due to stop-start nature of play
He has not been happy in madrid for a long time now and this season he’s clashed with Real officials and players frequently.
He has made no secret of his desire to return to the epl and all this talk and humility (from the special one!?) is nothing more than an attempt to convince the united hierarchy that his controversial days have passed him. They view him as a losse canon and are afraid after decades of fergie stability to hand the reins over to him.
When he defeated barca with inter and pointed up to the nou camp management it was the perfect signal for Real to come get him. Last nights words were another audition and invite, this time to man u
@dublinlad Did you have your Big Book of Football Clichès out while you were typing that?
Why not use the reply button so they know you replied
The beautiful game – ha ha ha – overpaid ponces the whole bloody lot of them !
Of course, it should have been ‘the better team lost’
I wonder if Jose knows the job is his allready.h If you listen to all his interwiews he never disrespects united. Always speaks very highly of the club. A
Lets be honest where else will he go.he wants out of Madrid. Never will manage Barca because of his time with Real. Bayern Munich job is gone.he has said opening he wants to return to the Premier League I think he would be mad to go back to Chelsea. arsenal i doubt it. He will want a big club. Whos left. United or City. If it came down to his choice he would pick united…..
lads the fact of the matter is that a great game of football was totally ruined last night because of a very poor refereeing decision. I am a united fan, always have been and always will be but there is no bias with me. The fact is that nani only had eyes for the ball, he had no intention of connecting with the player as he was totally unaware that he was there. The referee directly affected the outcome of the game because had it stayed 11 v 11 united would have went on to win it. They were on top,in control and madrid never looked like scoring at that stage. jose is right….. the better team over the two legs did indeed lose, through no fault of their own.
There’s no dropping a hint, there are several interviews where he states he wants the Utd job, add to that Ferguson and Mourhino are good friends- and in fact speak to each other regularly
Utd will make an effort to get Ronaldo back- but it will only happen if Ronaldo has a big part in it-
You could see both Mourhino and Ronaldo back at Utd in the near future more worryingly was what was going on with Rooney I think it was wrong to leave him out- tactically or not You play ur best players
Rooney + cash in exchange for Ronaldo?
Haha. What would Madrid want with that. Surely they could buy something truly world class if they get rid of ronaldo.
Well my man u mates think its a possibility but if owen and becks struggled to settle at madrid its hard to see rooney go there. Me personally as a madridista, i rather they go for neymar as im sure ronaldo will leave soon
David Moyes is the only man for the utd job. Pure class
David Moyes while a good manager at Everton has never won a raffle, he wouldn’t know what to do in a fight for the league and he should be learning that somewhere instead of getting pats on the back at Everton year after year for what is in effect mediocrity compared to Uniteds achievements. I’d question his ambition at this stage
United threw in the towel after red card! Poor little boys got sulky!
You were obviously watching a different match.
I tought over the two legs Madrid were slightly the better. Last nights game was a great game and perfectly balanced with half an hour or so to go. The red card ruined a great game. If it was a red card or not I dont know. Personaly I feel a yellow would have been enough but everyone will have a different opinion. (Isnt that what makes sport so enjoyable) As for Josehe wants the United job ASAP. still not to sure if he will get it…..
Roy keane slightly ironic there , talking about dirty tackles – Nani had no intent to hurt Arbaloa wonder did he forget what he wrote in his book about Alf enge Harland and finishing his career
Hardly one to talk
I’ve looked at it now 10 times and still can’t see the red card – yellow only
The best team always wins where it counts, which is on the scoreboard. The rest is irrelevant…