Bayern Munich assaults the Bernabéu

BarcelonaAfter losing in Mallorca (2-1) on Saturday and practically saying goodbye to the League with Barça seven points ahead with eight matchdays left in the championship, Bayern Munich deepened the wound by storming 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 smell blood and allowed a team relying on Kylian Mbappé's inspiration, the scorer of the white goal, to leave alive.

The first chance was Bayern's, who, before taking the lead, had already missed two clear opportunities. The first, very early on. When the 10th minute arrived, Upamecano, with Lunin off his line, headed over the crossbar a ball that seemed harder to send wide than into the net. The other came around the half-hour mark, when Thiago Pitarch received a difficult ball from his goalkeeper at the edge of the box, passed it back, but sent it directly to Gnabry's feet, who was met 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 right after emerging from the tunnel, with Pavlolic snatching a dangerous ball from Carreras, passing it to Olise - one of Bayern's best - and, in turn, setting up Harry Kane to punish the Bernabéu with 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, dropped a gear, 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, sponsored by a lack of tension from the Bavarian defense.

With the score at 2-1 with 15 minutes remaining, Bayern saw the wolf's ears and their legs began to tremble, while Madrid, boosted by a Bernabéu that was changing whistles for shouts of encouragement, began to threaten Neuer's goal, who denied the whites an equalizer with saves of merit. With Álvaro Arbeloa's men pushing forward, the Germans had chances on the counter, but they also felt the fatigue and were astute enough to take a greater prize.