Champions League quarterfinals: Real Madrid 4-2 Bayern Munich
This is was a classic tie, two superpowers battling for a spot in the final four of the Champions League. Up to the 84th minute, this game was a thriller. Real Madrid had chances to go on top first but missed out on a few chances. Then Lewandowski converted a penalty for a foul on Robben to give the German the lead. But Madrid came back in this tie quickly thanks to Ronaldo. No time to celebrate, as Bayern will take the lead on an own goal just 90 seconds after the equalizer. We were all even at this point. This is when the mistakes began. First Vidal was sent off for the an non-foul on a Real Madrid simulation.
In the extra time, Cristiano Ronaldo would score two goals offside! How can the ref be so bad? At this level this is unacceptable and we won’t likely see this ref at the highest level for a long time. But hats off to Real Madrid for advancing to its seventh straight semifinals and Cristiano Ronaldo for his hat-trick.
Coach Zidane, Real Madrid on the game:
“It was a very hard-fought game, but in the end, we got a good result, which I believe we deserved. This season we’ve come up against perhaps the strongest side in the competition. We’ve had a lot of tough games, but tonight’s was the most difficult of them all. We deserved to progress. I’m very proud of all of the players because they put massive effort into this.
We kept a cool head. In the first half we had a lot of chances, but failed to score and it’s to be expected that we would have to dig deep in a game like this one. We’re on the right track and have to keep the good work up. Today we faced a magnificent team and the fine margins are what saw us reach the semi-finals.
We’re on a positive run. We won the game and got through the tie. We’ve now got an equally tough game to come on Sunday. Everybody played their part. We’re happy with the players who played, those who came on and those that didn’t feature. We need everyone in the team to help”.
Coach Ancelotti on the mistakes:
“We turned in a really good display, I’m proud of my players, who played with commitment and gave it everything. We came very close to the semi-finals. Some decisions by the referee ultimately decided the match. I know it can happen in football, but not so often at this level. We were in control until the red card.
It was a true spectacle. A huge compliment to both teams. Our team gave it everything, you mustn’t forget that some of our players had knocks. If you look at the displays turned in by Boateng, Lewandowski or Manuel Neuer I can only take my hat off. It was magnificent football, but unfortunately the refereeing decisions went against us. The red card was a heavy blow of course. But if you blame the team today you’ve seen the wrong match. It was a superb game.”
