Bayern Munich assaults the Bernabéu

BarcelonaAfter losing in Mallorca (2-1) on Saturday and practically saying goodbye to La Liga with Barça seven points behind with eight matchdays left until the end of the championship, Bayern Munich deepened the wound by conquering the Santiago Bernabéu (1-2) in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. Luis Díaz, in the 41st minute, and Harry Kane, right at the start of the second half, were the goalscorers for the team led by Vincent Kompany, who failed to seize the opportunity and let a team relying on Kylian Mbappé's inspiration, author of the white goal, leave alive.

The first chance was Bayern's, who before taking the lead had already missed two clear opportunities. The first, very early. When the 10th minute arrived, Upamecano, with Lunin out of position, shot over the crossbar a ball that seemed harder to send wide than into the net. The other would come around the half-hour mark, when Thiago Pitarch received a tricky ball from his goalkeeper at the edge of the box and passed it back, but sent it directly to Gnabry's feet, who was denied by a saving stop from Lunin. The Bavarian superiority would eventually find its reward with Luis Díaz's goal just before halftime, after a good through ball from Gnabry.

Bayern would strike again just after passing through the tunnel, with Pavlovic stealing a poisoned ball from Carreras, passing it to Olise - one of Bayern's best - and, in turn, enabling Harry Kane to punish Bernabéu by connecting a good shot from the edge of the box. It was the moment to smell blood and leave Madrid knocked out, but the Bavarians showed they were human, slowed down, and allowed their rival to grow. Led by Mbappé, the whites reduced the deficit after a great assist from Trent to the Frenchman at the far post, facilitated by a lack of tension from the Bavarian defense.

With the 1-2 with 15 minutes left, Bayern saw the wolf's ears and their legs began to tremble, while Madrid, driven by a Bernabéu that replaced whistles with shouts of encouragement, began to threaten Neuer's goal, who denied the whites the equalizer with meritorious saves. With Álvaro Arbeloa's team pushing forward, the Germans had counter-attacking options, but they also felt the fatigue and were not sharp enough to take a bigger prize.