Sergio Ramos heads Real Madrid into the lead against Bayern Munich in the
Champions League semi-final second leg. Photograph: Adam Pretty/Bongarts/Getty
At long last, Real Madrid can almost touch La Decima. This was an occasion when the Spanish club had been confronted by tension, the weight of history, curses and a Bayern Munich team that were supposed to pass them to death. Yet Carlo Ancelotti, Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and, yes, Gareth Bale sliced through it all with a performance of such swashbuckling brilliance that Pep Guardiola's Bayern side were reduced to rubble.
It was in 2002 that Zinedine Zidane sculpted the volley against Bayer Leverkusen at Hampden Park to help Real to their ninth European Cup. The wait for the 10th has pushed the boundaries even of obsession. The narrative for Real has since taken in a transfer market outlay of £905m, too much semi-final heartache and too many managers sacked.
They boldly wrote their own script in Bavaria, one marked by a tactical masterclass from Ancelotti and ruthless execution from his players as the team that they have feared in Madrid as the Black Beast was torn apart piece by piece.
The expectation had been for a classic, for two of the game's super-heavyweights to work each other to a standstill. Only one turned up. Bayern had beaten Real in four of their previous five European Cup semi-final meetings but this contest was effectively over upon Ramos's second thumping header before the midway point of the first-half. What followed, most notably the goals from Ronaldo, merely represented a turn of the knife and for Guardiola and Bayern, it was a night of introspection, for wondering where the precise and mesmeric football had gone.
The Bayern inquest centred on the lack of an obvious Plan B from Guardiola once the possession football had been blunted while it could not fail to ignore the shocking looseness at the back. There will be no successful Champions League defence for them. For Real, however, who had never previously won in Munich, the possibilities are tantalising.
Ancelotti and his players had travelled with confidence, which felt like a far cry from the mood in Madrid when the draw was made. Then, there was uncharacteristic trepidation. The first leg, when Real had been incisive, had removed that, which felt good because one of the fundamentals of football is that Real have to swagger.
They believed that the Bayern central defenders, Jérôme Boateng and Dante, were vulnerable but nobody could have predicted Bayern's collective implosion at the early set-pieces. Teams at any level, let alone the most rarefied, are not supposed to be breached like this.
Ramos was the beneficiary and how he revelled in letting off steam in front of the Bayern fans, who struggled to comprehend what was happening. Two years ago, at this stage of the competition, Ramos had missed the decisive penalty in Bayern's shootout victory at the Bernabéu. He had entered this tie with five goals in 73 career Champions League appearances. After 20 minutes, the bookmakers were slashing in-play odds on an outlandish hat-trick.
The first came from a Luka Modric corner and if Ronaldo rose high in the centre, Ramos got even higher behind him, as Dante failed to stay tight. The header was too hot for Manuel Neuer to handle. The second was even better. From Ángel di María's free-kick, Ramos reacted instinctively when the ball was flicked on by Pepe to launch himself into a diving header which flashed home.
Ancelotti had started with Di María on the left of a midfield three, making Real compact but, with the pace of Bale and Ronaldo in wide areas, razor sharp on the counter. He could not have judged it more perfectly. Even before the opening goal, Real looked threatening and Bale was off target after Neuer had left his area to head weakly clear. It was not an isolated bolt from the Bayern goalkeeper, and they betrayed both his anxiety and that around him. His handling and kicking was suspect.
Real pulverised Bayern in the first half and it was no exaggeration to say that it looked as though they might score with every forward thrust. It was remarkable to see how many three-on-three situations developed. Real's runners bristled with menace. The only blot during 45 golden minutes for them was Xabi Alonso's booking that rules him out of the final.
The third came when Karim Benzema played Bale through the thin red line and he powered past Boateng before working the ball square for Ronaldo to finish. Ronaldo gestured with his hands that it was his 15th goal in 10 Champions League ties this season. He might have had more in the first half alone. He had his 16th by the end.
Guardiola had opted for Philipp Lahm at right-back in order to accommodate Thomas Müller in attacking midfield – an admission that he had erred in the first-leg? – but there was nothing from any of his players here. It felt like a trick of the mind that, a few short weeks ago, having secured the Bundesliga title, Bayern were widely considered to be the best team on the planet.
They bubbled with rage in the first half and there were a series of melees. One followed a bad tackle from Dante on Ronaldo while Franck Ribéry also aimed a spiteful slap. The second half became a futile search for a Bayern consolation and yet it finished with Ronaldo ramming a free-kick under the defensive wall and past Neuer. Ancelotti might wonder why on earth he should leave this team for Manchester United, who prize him. Real are on the march.
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