Last night, Bayern Munich were unable to make it an all-German final as they were eliminated by Real Madrid after a 2-1 defeat (4-3 on aggregate) in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final.
Bayern had their backs against the wall for most of the first and second halves against Real Madrid. But, in the second half, they opened the scoring in the 68th minute through Alphonso Davies but then the game returned to its status quo when Real equalised three minutes later only for the goal to be ruled out after a foul on Joshua Kimmich by Nacho.
In the 85th minute, Tuchel then made the decision to substitute both Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala for Thomas Müller and Eric-Maxim Choupo Moting, whilst having also switched to a back five earlier on. This was a clear move to see how the rest of the game, but it would backfire. In the 88th minute, Manuel Neuer, who had been Bayern’s best player all game, fumbled a catch straight into the path of Joselu who equalised for Madrid. The former Hannover, Hoffenheim and Eintracht Frankfurt striker then scored the winner three minutes later.
This would leave Bayern chasing the game with no true world-class attacking outlet for them. However, right at the end they had thought they had equalised when Matthijs de Ligt scored but an offside was called just before the ball was headed down, which the referee has since admitted was a mistake.
However, despite this, Bayern deserved to go out.
In what was one of their most important games of the season they didn’t really turn up. Without Neuer, Bayern would have been beaten more convincingly. At times, especially after Real equalised, Bayern forgot how to defend and were visibly shaken. Joshua Kimmich was given the run around by Vinicius for the whole game. Kane, despite a chance first and second half, was practically none existent.
Injuries have not helped Bayern, but the drop-off in performance from the first to the second leg was big, too big in this stage of the Champions League against Madrid at the Bernabeu.
The positive for Bayern is they can now look ahead to next year with the motivation to make it to the Champions League final at the Allianz Arena. The only issue is, they are going to be in a transition period.
Bayern have a right to feel hard done due to the refereeing decision, but the rest of their performance does not constitute the feeling that they deserved to go through.
The Rekordmeister now go trophyless for the first time since 2011/12 and with other Bundesliga teams stepping up not only in Europe but at home as well, this summer is crucial for Bayern. They need the right coach quickly to help refresh the team if this cannot happen then Bayern could be in for a period of going trophyless for a while.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
