Their opponent then was the same as on Wednesday, this being the 14th time the two have battled on the European stage, with both progressing to the next round on four separate occasions.
Make it lucky number five for the Germans. Jupp Heynckes made a triumphant return to the Bernabeu, as Bayern won 3-1 in a wild shootout—playing out a 2-1 result after 120 minutes. It was the third time Jose Mourinho lost in the last seven years at the semi-final stage, following his triumph with FC Porto in 2004—losing twice to Liverpool in 2005 and 2007.
The victory also ended Bayern's four match losing streak at the Bernabeu, and earned them a little payback against Mourinho for the loss suffered in the final two years prior to Inter Milan. It was a tough pill to swallow for the Madridista's, who suffered a single defeat in 12 games in the competition—squandering an early two goal advantage and allowing the visitors back into the match.
The first 45 minutes was extremely fast-paced with scoring chances at a premium, the second half was handled with a little more composure by both sides as neither wanted to make a mistake. In extra-time the tension and nerves were much higher and fatigue played a huge role of chances being at a minimum. But each side seemed content on going into a shootout and rolling the dice.
Bayern have now made history, becoming the first club to host a final in which they will participate, but it did come with some bad news. David Alaba, Luiz Gustavo and Holger Badstuber will all miss out due to suspension, after picking up bookings on Wednesday. Alaba's caution seemed a little harsh; called for a hand ball that resulted in the opening goal, even though it looked more like ball-to-hand than an intentional block.
Did Bayern Munich play more conservatively to protect their slim lead?
Even before going down by two goals in 14 minutes, Bayern did not set up to defend their slim lead and never deviated from their game plan to attack—even recklessly at times. Arjen Robben blew a glorious chance to even the score almost immediately after conceding the first goal, failing to make proper contact on a bouncing ball and sending the shot embarrassingly over the bar with a gaping net at his mercy. The wave of offence continued with Franck Ribery being denied another possible goal by a last ditch challenge by Sami Khedira, which resulted from a huge rebound given up by Iker Casillas on a Mario Gomez shot. After conceding the second goal, the visitors were awarded a life-line when Pepe hauled down Gomez in the box—Robben finished past Casillas and the game was back on. Once the aggregate was tied, Bayern started to play a lot more conservatively and tightened the reins.
Cristiano Ronaldo report card...
Unfortunately, the early brace will be overshadowed by the glaring miss in the shootout. Ronaldo looked to be riding a massive wave of confidence in the early stages, but it slowly started to fizzle out. The Portuguese talisman failed to capitalize from a few set-piece opportunities, unable to produce the critical blow that would have killed of the match and given him a much deserved hat-trick. It’s hard to deny the negative impact his miss from the spot had, but his manager refused to throw him under the bus and simply stated "Cristiano had to fail someday". Considering the final outcome, it would be extremely harsh and unfair to blame Ronaldo for the loss—CR7 finished the competition with 10 goals in 10 matches.
Man of the match...
No one deserves it more than Manuel Neuer. The German goalkeeper came up aces when it mattered most—making back-to-back saves on Ronaldo and Kaka to set the tone in the shootout. Both were of high quality, diving to his right and pushing the ball wide of the bottom corner. Even the miss by Sergio Ramos could be attributed to the mental advantage gained from Madrid’s first two spot kick failures. A keeper can only give his team a chance to win, and Neuer did just that.
Honorable mention...
Casillas did all he could to give los blancos the victory, unfortunately a goalkeeper is unable to score goals as well. The captain made timely saves, first on a Robben free-kick in injury time of the first half that would have tied the match and surrendered momentum to the visitors. In the shootout, with his team low on confidence, Casillas produced two spectacular saves on Toni Kroos and Philipp Lahm to resurrect Madrid's chances before Bastian Schweinsteiger ended it.
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