Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid LIVE: Champions League result and reaction after entertaining draw in Munich
Bayern Munich 2-2 Real Madrid: Vinicius Jr’s brace cancelled out goals from Leroy Sane and Harry Kane to leave the tie finely poised.
A brace from Vinicius Junior earned Real Madrid a 2-2 away draw against Bayern Munich to leave the Champions League semi-final tie finely poised after the first leg.
The Brazilian opened the scoring against the run of play in the first half, collecting Toni Kroos’ defence-splitting pass before cooly slotting past Manuel Neuer.
Bayern, though, turned the game on its head after the break with two second-half goals in the space of four minutes. Leroy Sane smashed home past Andriy Lunin before Harry Kane converted from the spot after Lucas Vazquez hauled down Jamal Musiala inside the box.
But Kim Min-Jae’s late foul on Rodrygo inside the area allowed Vinicius to double his tally for the night from the spot and rescue a late draw for Carlo Ancelotti’s side ahead of the second leg at the Bernabeu.
Relive all the match action from the Champions League semi-final first leg below.
Team news coming shortly
Real Madrid have already announced their starting XI but we’re still waiting for Bayern Munich’s. Here’s a reminder of that Madrid XI before some early Bayern team news
Kane on the cusp of history
Harry Kane has been directly involved in 10 goals in 10 games for Bayern Munich in the Champions League this season (7 goals, 3 assists). Should he score or assist in this game, he would establish a new record for the most goal involvements by an English player in a single campaign in the competition (also 10 by David Beckham in 1998-99 and 2001-02 and Steven Gerrard in 2007-08).
Head-to-head record
The head-to-head record is finely poised, with Madrid narrowly edging Bayern with 12 wins compared to the German club’s 11.
Despite the even historical record, though, it is Madrid who have dominated the team’s encounters in recent years. In fact, Bayern are winless in their last seven games against tonight’s opposition, losing six of those meetings (D1). Indeed, this is the German’s side longest winless run against an opponent in European competition.
Two old foes collide
The last time these sides met was in the 2017/18 Champions League semi-finals, with Madrid prevailing 4-3 on aggregate.
Ahead of tonight, the fixture was already the most played fixture in the history of the European Cup/UEFA Champions League (26 games), with 24 of those coming in the knockout stages of the competition – also the most between two sides.
What will match number 27 have in store?
Real Madrid team news!
Well, far earlier than we were expecting but we have Real Madrid’s starting line-up for tonight:
Having rung the changes for their 1-0 win against Real Sociedad at the weekend, Anceloitt returns to his strongest side, with only Tchouameni keeping his place in the side.
Real Madrid: Lunin; Vazquez, Rudiger, Nacho, Mendy, Tchouameni, Valverde, Kroos, Bellingham, Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr.
Subs: Courtois, Kepa, Militao, Modric, Camavinga, Joselu, Ceballos, Garcia, Diaz, Guller.
Coming up tomorrow
Tomorrow night, it’s the turn of Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain in the other Champions League semi-final. The first leg will take place in Germany and the home side have been boosted by the return of four key players.
Here’s the latest:
Dortmund boosted by return of four key players ahead of PSG clash
Donyell Malen returns from injury in time for the semi-final first leg while Ian Maatsen and Emre Can are back from suspensions
Special send-off for the home side
All of Bayern’s club employees lined the streets outside their training ground to give their team a special send-off ahead of tonight’s game.
Valverde - ‘We’re hungry to make the final'
The Uruguayan midfield also spoke to the media ahead of tonight’s semi-final and insisted his side remain as hungry as ever as they look to capture a famous double this season.
“We’re excited. It’s the first time that I play against this team in the competition. I have faith and I’m eager to play. I’m happy for all I’m experiencing with this team. You have to appreciate every moment defending these colours and this jersey. Winning this competition is so valuable and it’s a beautiful thing,” he said.
“I have absolute confidence in my team. We have to respect our opposition and the club we’re up against. We have real faith in the players here. The defenders, the midfielders and forwards. We’re excited, hungry to make the final and we’ll fight to do just that.”
Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid latest updates
Carlo Ancelotti previews the semi-final further, speaking to TNT Sports:
Carlo Ancelotti - ‘Everyone knows what we can do'
Ancelotti is the most successful coach in the competition’s history with five victories, while Real Madrid are eyeing up a record-extending 15th title.
“Real Madrid are never underrated in this competition. Everyone knows what we can do. To be honest, we feel hugely respected by everyone in this competition,” the Italian said on Monday.
“We are confident but we have great respect for this team. They haven’t had the best season in the Bundesliga but they played a very impressive tie against Arsenal. They were very good in both games. We have to look at that, Arsenal are a very strong side in Europe and they delivered two superb displays.”
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