SBNation.com - Real Madrid Vs. Bayern Munich: Germans To The Final On Penalties

Real Madrid's Failure Is Not Mourinho's Folly

2012-04-26T14:37:39Z

It was supposed to be a moment of destiny for Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid. The Special One had finally solved the Barcelona puzzle in the league and all that was left was booking a trip to the Champions League Final. But, as we learned Wednesday, destiny is fickle. So the question becomes, is Mourinho to blame for his team's failure to advance over Bayern Munich?

While asking the question is fairly simple, figuring out a reasonable answer if far more difficult. No doubt everyone who watched the match will have their own perspective or opinion about what happened. But, for me, things break down into one of two camps of thought.

The first line of thinking is to outright blame Mourinho for the failure (and as good as Munich is, make no mistake, this is a failure). One could make a case that Mou pulled "a Redknapp", believing that his superior talent and home-field advantage would lead his side to victory. Instead of making adjustments to properly deal with the issues he saw, at least we think he saw, in the first leg, Mourinho chose to believe that his side's skill would be enough.

The second line of thinking is that Mourinho's hands were tied by injuries. With Lassana Diara and Ricardo Carvalho out, he was forced to put Pepe in the central defense, rather than being able to move him to a DM role, or just play Diarra instead. Compared to the alternative of fielding Coentrao or Granero, how he lined up his team seems to me to be the right, and only really logical choice, thus, the result wasn't his fault.

What side of the fence you come down on largely depends on some combination of your tactical opinions and personal feelings about Mourinho. I think there's legitimate case to made for either point. But for my money, you simply cannot lay this at the feet of the Portuguese manager for a number of factors.

First there's the previously mentioned lineup issues, especially considering Pepe was guilty of an unnecessary penalty that allowed Bayern to get the crucial away goal and even up the tie. Does Carvahlo make the same decision that Pepe does in that spot? Who can say, but given Carvahlo's experience, you'd have to think he would have been more aware of the situation around him. Sergio Ramos and Pepe had Mario Gomez covered when Arjen Robben sent in the cross, there was no need to make contact on Gomez, yet Pepe crashed in to him and conceded the penalty.

The right play would have been to let Gomez go and see what happens, especially since there was a really good chance he never would have reached the cross. Of course, I have the benefit of replay and making a split-second decision is a whole different thing. Still, professional footballers are paid to make the decisions and Pepe made the wrong one.

Another major issue for Mourinho was the El Clasico match on Saturday. With Barcelona within five points going into Saturday, Madrid had to bring their "A" game and get a victory to essentially secure the La Liga title. Mourinho didn't have the luxury (if you can call having already lost the league title a luxury) that Jupp Heynckes had in being able to rest key players ahead of Wednesday's match. Madrid was playing their third match in a week with basically the same lineup and it showed. Ronaldo was completely gassed in extra time and there's every reason to believe his leg was bothering him and likely affected his PK attempt. More importantly was having to remove Mesut Özil, who left the match in favor of Kaka in the 75th minute.

With Özil out, Madrid lost their best playmaker and were subsequently unable to take advantage of their opportunities down the stretch, especially late in extra time when Madrid finally started controlling the game and possession. Kaka was simply unable to do what Özil is capable of and it hamstrung the Madrid attack late when there were cracks in the Bayern defense.

For comparisons sake, Bayern made one sub in 120 minutes of play, Thomas Müller for Franck Ribéry in the 95th minute. One can argue that Heynckes either simply didn't need to make a change or didn't trust his bench enough, but the bottom line for me is that his side was rested where as Madrid was not.

So can you blame Mourinho? Sure, but I just don't believe it's warranted. In hindsight, adjustments could have been made to better protect the early lead that Ronaldo gave Madrid, but it's not like Bayern defeated them with an onslaught of goals. The match broke on Pepe's decision and despite that, having him in the central defensive roll was still the logical and right decision considering the options.

As for the penalty kicks, there's no bigger crap shoot in the game. There's nothing any coach can do when his players are standing alone, 12 yards from goal. The fact that Iker Casillas did his job and stopped two Bayern penalties, only makes the loss even harder to take.

Mourinho is the easy target for blame but Madrid wasn't bad against Bayern. They did nearly everything right but as is common in big matches, the mistakes that do happen are magnified. So if you are hell bent on blaming the Special One, be my guest, but the facts simply don't add up for me. He set up his side the best he could, they got two quick goals, but ultimately were defeated by a strong opponent and were unable to overcome the compounded fatigue of a busy week of football.

That happens to every manager, even the best ones.

Sergio Ramos Saves Us All, Goes Hunting For Asteroids

2012-04-25T22:34:36Z

Imagine 85,454 people watching your every step as you walk from the halfway line to the penalty spot. You know that millions upon million upon millions more are watching you on TV around the world. Then you stop 12 yards from the goal, put a little ball on a spot and aim for the net, only there is a neon green blur of a goalkeeper in your way. Sounds like oodles of fun.

That was Sergio Ramos on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu, only there was also a spot in the Champions League final on the line. What he did then was heroic. Instead of aiming for the goal (and riches and glory and pretty much every other good thing in the world that he could possibly desire) he looking upwards and knocked an asteroid heading for Earth off of its path, saving us all.

Now let us raise our glasses to Sergio Ramos, saver of all things on Earth. Cheers!

VIDEO: Bastian Schweinsteiger Sends Bayern Munich Home For Champions League Final

2012-04-25T21:38:03Z

Bayern Munich will be playing in the Champions League final, which is cool, but it is 100 times cooler because they will be playing it in their home stadium. The Allianz Arena is host to this year's final and thanks to Bastian Schweinsteiger's penalty kick (or Manuel Neuer's two saves, or Sergio Ramos' field goal), the Bavarians will be there to take on Chelsea.

The final is still a month away, but with Bayern set to play at home, the spectacle scale has already been broken.

Consider how silent the Bernabeu was after Schweinsteiger eliminated Real Madrid with that penalty. Allianz Arena is going to be the complete opposite of that on May 19. It will be a sea of red, with a little portion of Chelsea blue that will be vastly out-numbered, but nobody cares about the Blues right now anyways. The team in the final at home gets all of the love because awesomeness always wins.

Real Madrid Vs. Bayern Munich, 2012 UEFA Champions League: Final Score, Bavarians Win On Penalties

2012-04-25T21:28:51Z

Bayern Munich and Real Madrid played a wildly entertaining and wide open 30 minutes of football to start the second leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal tie, but shifted into a slower-paced, conservative, tactical battle for the rest of the match. Real Madrid took a 2-0 lead early, but Bayern answered with an away goal that locked up the tie at 3-3. With the tie even, both teams changed their strategy and eventually found themselves in a penalty shootout. In penalties, Manuel Neuer came up huge with two saves, sending the Bavarians through to the UEFA Champions League final.

Madrid took the lead after just six minutes of play through a penalty kick. David Alaba was the man whistled for the penalty, with the referee catching him blocking an Angel Di Maria shot with his arm. Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up and buried the penalty. They doubled their lead from open play in the 14th minute, once again through Ronaldo. Mesut Özil provided the assist, hitting a pass into the box for an unmarked Ronaldo, who calmly placed a shot past Manuel Neuer.

Bayern Munich produced a surprising answer, and it was an absolute gift from Los Merengues. In the 26th minute, Pepe was called for a push in the back on Mario Gomez, who was trying to get on the end of a Toni Kroos cross. Gomez had almost no chance to get to the cross, so it was inexplicable that Pepe felt the need to ever put an arm on the Bayern striker. He went down easily, but Pepe had no reason to touch him in the first place. Arjen Robben stepped up and like Ronaldo at the other end, converted his penalty calmly.

Robben almost gave his side the aggregate lead with a free kick in first half stoppage time, but Iker Casillas made a terrific save. It wasn't obvious live, but Karim Benzema deflected the free kick with a handball, and it was a much more egregious one than the one Alaba committed on the other end.

Neither manager made any changes at halftime, but the game still changed considerably. The first half was very fast and open, with both teams regularly going through the midfield with long passes, but the second half was played at a slower place and was played almost exclusively in the middle. Bayern's deep midfielders did a better job of winning the ball than Madrid's while Kroos came deep to find the ball much more often than Özil, allowing Bayern to control possession.

Both teams had chances throughout the second half, but they were really just half chances. Both Neuer and Iker Casillas looked very composed between the sticks throughout and, despite some minor hiccups, both teams defended much better in the second half than they did in the first. Benzema was Madrid's biggest threat, forcing a save in the 57th minute and getting free down the endline in the 77th, but on that occasion his cross was blocked.

Bayern's best chance of the second half came late, in the 86th minute. Arjen Robben put a low ball right to the feet of Gomez, who had a chance to shoot, but he appeared to contract the Yips. His touch was absolutely woeful.

When one of the best strikers in the world takes a touch like that, it's more or less a sign from the divine that this game requires extra time. No one scored in the final four minutes of regular time, and the match headed for 30 more minutes of football.

With the result of the match still up in the air, the biggest events in the first half of extra time were the yellow cards. Luiz Gustavo and Holger Badstuber, both on potential suspension, picked up yellow cards. That made it three Bayern players -- those two and Alaba -- who picked up suspensions for the final before knowing whether or not their team would be there. Jupp Heynckes also made one substitution in the first half of extra time, bringing on Thomas Müller for a tired Franck Ribery.

Jose Mourinho started the second period of extra time by making an understandable, yet risky substitution. Gonzalo Higuain, who was also facing a suspension if he picked up a yellow card, entered to relieve Benzema up top for Madrid. Los Merengues made their final change six minutes later, bringing on Esteban Granero for Özil.

There was one bit of controversy in the 115th minute when Neuer and Granero came in contact in the penalty area. Granero attempted to shield a ball and Neuer bravely, but perhaps stupidly, went around Granero with his leg and attempted to make a tackle. He missed the ball and he appeared to make some contact with Granero's leg, but the Madrid substitute certainly made the most of minimal contact, leading the referee to book him for diving.

That was easily the biggest moment extra time, which was cautiously played like the second half. With the teams unable to separate themselves with 210 minutes of football, they headed to penalties.

The penalty shootout was a remarkable one, with both goalkeepers coming up when their teams needed them most. David Alaba scored the opener for Bayern Munich, which was followed up by a terrific save by Neuer on Cristiano Ronaldo, low and to his right.

After Gomez made his penalty, Kaka tried to go to the same spot as Ronaldo and achieved the same result, hitting the hand of Neuer.

It appeared at that point like Bayern had things under control, but they certainly made it hard on themselves. Toni Kroos and Philipp Lahm both missed their penalties while Xabi Alonso made his, gifting Madrid a way back into the shootout.

They made nothing of that gift.

With the shootout tied, Sergio Ramos stepped up to the spot. This time, Neuer didn't need to make a save. The Madrid defender hit an absolutely abysmal penalty, skying it a mile over the crossbar to give Madrid a chance to win the tie.

Bastian Schweinsteiger stepped up cool and composed and made the winning penalty, setting up a home Champions League final for his team.

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We have live coverage of the game in our Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich StoryStream. For more on the two teams, head over to Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and Bayern Munich blog Bavarian Football Works.

Real Madrid Vs. Bayern Munich, 2012 UEFA Champions League: Penalty Shootout!

2012-04-25T21:14:28Z

Update: Real Madrid 2-1 Bayern Munich, Final Score (Bayern win on penalties)

We've gone to penalties at the Santiago Bernabeu. Despite the game seeing no fewer than three goals in the first half hour, it's been scoreless since and that leaves us perfectly level on aggregate. You could tell that both Bayern Munich and Real Madrid were playing for this, because neither really seemed able to do anything for most of extra time - they're really, really tired.

Two penalty kicks have already been scored in this match, incidentally. Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Arjen Robben have notched from the spot against Manuel Neuer and Iker Casillas respectively. It'll be down to the goalkeepers now. Incidentally, Bayern have never lost a penalty shootout in the Champions League. Let's see what happens now!

Bayern Munich will kick first...

David Alaba SCORES. Coolly done, sending Casillas the wrong way.

Cristiano Ronaldo SAVED. Great save Neuer, diving to his right. Not a bad penalty.

Mario Gomez SCORES. Casillas dives wrong way again - he'd have saved that if he guessed right.

Kaka SAVED AGAIN. Brilliant save - carbon copy of the Ronaldo miss.

Toni Kroos SAVED. Too casual, great save Casillas to his left.

Xabi Alonso SCORES. Down the middle to give Real hope.

Phillipp Lahm SAVED! All square again, Casillas dives to his right, pen is straight down the middle, but saved anyway!

Sergio Ramos MISSES. Blasted well over the crossbar. Hilarious, if you're neutral.

Bastian Schweinsteiger SCORES TO TAKE BAYERN MUNICH TO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL.

Real Madrid Vs. Bayern Munich, 2012 UEFA Champions League: Controversial Penalty Call For Madrid

2012-04-25T21:10:55Z

Well that's going to be controversial. Kaka does very well do get past Phillipp Lahm on the Real Madrid left and sends in a cross that evades the entirety of the Bayern Munich defence - but not for new substitute Esteban Granero. With nobody near him, Manuel Neuer's forced out of his net to close him down, and after a second of dancing around puts his hand on the midfielder's back.

Granero goes to ground and a hush falls on the stadium... before the free kick is awarded in the other direction and Granero is booked for diving. That would have been an incredibly soft penalty, but you've seen them given. In this game, in fact.

Meanwhile, Gonzalo Higuain has rather thwarted Marcelo's neat through ball for Cristiano Ronaldo, touching the ball from an offside position, much to his teammates' disgust - Ronaldo would have been clear through there. Two minutes until penalties now...

Real Madrid Vs. Bayern Munich, 2012 UEFA Champions League: Granero Introduced

2012-04-25T21:06:22Z

Jose Mourinho finally makes good on his pre-game press conference promise: Estaban Granero is playing. Real Madrid have made their third and final substitution, yanking off Mesut Ozil to introduce the scrappy midfielder. There are ten minutes left in this match, and Real now have three fresh players on. They look like they're making a difference, too, with Gonzalo Higuain and Kaka causing real problems for the Bayern Munich defence.

That said, Kaka could do a lot better when he's clear in the six yard box, hesitating before attempting a cross straight into Jerome Boateng's stomach. If he'd been able to get the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo there, Real Madrid would almost certainly be ahead. The tension is palpable, but the game's not quite as fun as it was in the first half, when all 22 players were fresh. Five minutes until penalties now.

Real Madrid Vs. Bayern Munich, 2012 UEFA Champions League: Higuain Comes On For Benzema

2012-04-25T21:00:50Z

So, with fifteen minutes left Real Madrid have made their second substitution, introducing the excellent Gonzalo Higuain for the equally excellent - but much more tired - Karim Benzema. They go on the attack instantly, with Phillipp Lahm having to put in yet another excellent tackle on Cristiano Ronaldo. Considering the Bayern Munich captain is a booking away from suspension, he's been very brave in his tackling, which has had to have been essentially perfect all night.

Madrid keep attacking, and Mario Gomez has to rush back in order to provide some help on defence, dispossessing Kaka at the edge of his own penalty box. Real get the ball back eventually, but an exhausted Ronaldo shanks a shot well wide from distance. That was all a bit limp, but after the week he's had you can hardly blame him. Real look dead on their feet.