Real Madrid bundled their way through to the Champions League Final with a nervy 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich at the Bernabeu, with the reigning champions grateful to goalkeeper Keylor Navas for some outstanding saves to preserve their dreams of winning the trophy three years in a row.
It was a frantic and at times bizarrely open game, with both teams showing an utter disregard for collective structure, and Bayern will feel they should have gone through after wasting several clearcut chances in both legs.
With performances like this it’s difficult to see how Madrid have managed to advance as far as the final, but they have made it now and considering their ability to play badly but still escape unscathed they will be very confident of their chances of being crowned champions again.
Here are three key talking points from another crazy night at the Bernabeu.
NAME ON THE CUP?
Sven Ulreich after his costly error
Real Madrid seem to find new and increasingly inventive ways to stumble their way through the Champions League. And if you thought that the 94th minute penalty against Juventus in the previous round was impressive, that was nothing compared to the combination of events which conspired in their favour on this occasion.
For starters, they were fortunate to avoid two strong penalty appeals, firstly when Marcelo handled a cross towards the end of the opening period and then when Sergio Ramos missed the ball and barged over Robert Lewandowski early in the second period.
But the game’s key moment was a truly outlandish piece of fortune, as Madrid went ahead on the night – enough to eventually send them through – when Bayern midfielder Corentin Tolisso played a suicidal back pass and his goalkeeper Sven Ulreich completed the self-implosion by inexplicably leaving it to give Karim Benzema an open goal.
These things just keep on happening to Real Madrid, and as they say: when your name is on the cup…
FREE-FORM IMPROVISATION
Benzema celebrates his second
That second Benzema goal was a tragicomic moment and summed up an unbelievably open and unstructured game which was richly littered with individual and collective mistakes at both ends of the pitch.
The lack of control exerted by either team was stunning to witness, with both defences wide open and the scoreline only prevented from climbing higher at both ends by a series of heavy touches and poor associative play.
Both teams yielded a huge amount of space in midfield to leave their defences dangerously vulnerable, with only Bayern midfielder Thiago Alcantara occasionally capable of imposing some kind of order upon the dizzying chaos.
There was certainly no lack of commitment from either set of players, but the lack of collective quality must have had Barcelona crying into their cushions as they watched from their sofas after throwing away their challenge in the quarter-finals.
It made for exciting viewing but the tactical level of the game was extremely low, and whoever wins Wednesday;’s other semi-final between Roma and Liverpool will have little to fear.
REDEMPTION FOR NAVAS
Real Madrid’s Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas
Keylor Navas copped a lot of flak after committing a bad mistake in the opening leg to allow Joshua Kimmich to score in Munich, leading to the widespread conclusion that Madrid will again attempt to replace him with David De Gea this summer.
But on this occasion Navas gave another reminder of exactly why he has been able to keep hold of the starting position ever since replacing legendary Iker Casillas three years ago.
Offered little protection by a wide-open defensive set-up, Navas was called into drastic action on several occasions and never disappointed, producing one save particularly brilliant reflex save to keep out a deflected shot from David Alaba.
Navas has been written off on many previous occasions so he won’t have been fazed by the criticism he received after the first leg, and on this display he might just still be in goal for Los Blancos next season.
