All posts tagged: Real Madrid CF

Bayern knock out Real Madrid in one of great European ties

Bayern knock out Real Madrid in one of great European ties

Hello and welcome to our coverage of this Champions League quarter-final second-leg game between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid at the Allianz Arena. When Harry Kane doubled Bayern’s lead within 20 seconds of the second half in last week’s first leg in Spain, Real looked on the verge of collapse. Luiz Diaz had already handed Vincent Kompany’s side the advantage with a composed 41st-minute finish, before Kane swept in Bayern’s second.  The Santiago Bernabeu became a cauldron of despair and anxiety. Still, Real, inspired by Jude Bellingham’s introduction from the bench, rallied as Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior both came close to scoring. Trent Alexander-Arnold eventually set up Mbappe with a brilliant cross, and the French forward tapped in from close range to halve the deficit, leaving the tie delicately balanced.  Unsurprisingly, Bayern are cruising to the Bundesliga title. They smashed St Pauli 5-0 at the weekend, extending their unbeaten league run to ten matches, while also breaking the record for the most Bundesliga goals scored in a single season. Jamal Musiala’s early header was …

Harry Kane and Trent Alexander-Arnold put on a show for Thomas Tuchel as Bayern beat Real

Harry Kane and Trent Alexander-Arnold put on a show for Thomas Tuchel as Bayern beat Real

Trent Alexander-Arnold starts for the home side tonight with Jude Bellingham on the bench. 18-year-old Thiago Pitarch is given a start in midfield. With no Thibaut Courtois available tonight, Ukrainian Andriy Lunin starts in goal. Real Madrid: Lunin; Alexander-Arnold, Rudiger, Huijsen, Carreras, Valverde, Thiago, Tchouameni, Guler, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr. Substitutes: Gonzalez, Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Bellingham, Camavinga, Gonzalo, Asencio, Ceballos, Garcia, Brahim, Mastantuono.  The visitors are boosted by the return of Harry Kane, who is fit to start after an ankle knock. He forms part of a dangerous attacking quartet for Bayern alongside Luis Diaz, Serge Gnabry and Michael Olise. Bayern Munich: Neuer, Upamecano, Tah, Kimmich, Gnabry, Kane, Diaz, Olise, Laimer, Stanisic, Pavlovic. Substitutes: Urbig, Kim, Goretzka, Musiala, Jackson, Davies, Bischof, Ito, Guerreiro, Osmani, Karl.  Source link

Vinicius Jnr twists knife and may have ended Guardiola’s last tilt at Champions League

Vinicius Jnr twists knife and may have ended Guardiola’s last tilt at Champions League

Man City  Donnarumma; Matheus Nunes, Khusanov, Dias, Aït-Nouri; Rodri; Cherki, Bernardo, Reijnders, Doku; Haaland. Substitutes  Trafford, Stones, Ake, Marmoush, Kovacic, Gonzalez, Guehi, Savio, O’Reilly, Semenyo, Foden, Lewis.  Real Madrid  Courtois; Alexander-Arnold, Rudiger, Huijsen, Francisco García; Valverde, Thiago, Tchouameni; Díaz, Guler, Vinicius Junior. Substitutes  Palacios, Angel, Mastantuono, Cestero, Aguado, Carreras, Gonzalo Garcia, Mbappe, Camavinga, Alaba, Carvajal, Lunin.  Referee  Clément Turpin (France) Source link

Pep Guardiola gets tactics horribly wrong as City torn to shreds by Real Madrid

Pep Guardiola gets tactics horribly wrong as City torn to shreds by Real Madrid

“But the intensity [we need] I think they find it a four days ago. The players have to live it. I insist many times. Two or three months ago I said, ‘We play today to prove to ourselves this is how you have to play to arrive in the latter stages to compete against good teams’ because we have 60 or 70 per cent of new players this season. “In November, December, January we had to win those games but we had to play in the way to visualise and see, ‘Oh we can do things, be aware we can do it’. Otherwise it will just be the next step and next season we’ll be back and do it again but once we are here to have to prove ourselves at our best otherwise when you arrive in the semi finals or finals of the Champions League and you are not who you are it is more difficult. “You can be lucky yes – it’s not 38 games like the Premier League or La Liga …

Vinicius Jnr dances with joy in fitting end to toxic Benfica tie

Vinicius Jnr dances with joy in fitting end to toxic Benfica tie

It was the first time that the Real Madrid forward has scored in both legs of a knockout tie. His timing was excellent as was his strength of character with Trent Alexander-Arnold saying: “What happened last week has happened. I don’t want to say it’s in the past because I don’t want to downplay how big an issue it is and what actually happened. But our focus was getting through, that’s all that mattered to us. It was about winning the game, let our football do the talking. “It was not so much he needed to score to send a message or show his mentality. We know what he’s like. He doesn’t need to prove anything because he has shown it time and time again how good he is. He steps up when we need him most.” He did indeed. Real have players injured, and the likes of Jude Bellingham made their way to the dugout for the final whistle, but there is little for Manchester City to fear if they draw the 15-time winners …