Real Madrid took a significant advantage in Munich by winning 2-1. After a first half which saw the German dominating and leading at the break, Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo came back with a different game plan to score two crucial away goals – his 99th and 100th in UEFA’s clubs competitions the highest in history.
However the score could have been well different if Vidal would not have missed the penalty at the last minute before the break when Bayern led 1-0. a 2-0 lead going into the second half would have been much different.
On the other hand, Barcelona has been routed for another time. Following the 4-0 defeat to PSG in the round of 16, Barcelona fell without a goal 3-0 to Juventus. Are they in for another remontada? Juventus’ defense is one of the best in the world and it might not be the same story as the historical 6-1 victory over PSG in the return leg.
Coach Real Madrid, Zidane on the comeback win in the second half:
“You’re never going to manage to put the tie to bed. With our second-half display, in which we regained possession a lot and played very well and with the chances we created, it would have been better had we managed to come away from here having scored another goal. However, we’re happy with our performance.
We showed during the first half that we’re capable of digging and ultimately our patience and desire saw us pick up a good result, but we’ve got the return leg to come and we still have to secure our qualification. Not even had we scored another goal here would that have put the tie beyond them”.
If you go in 2-0 down, regardless of the fact that it wasn’t a penalty, it becomes a different game. We got the equaliser at the start of the second half and that changed the complexion of the match. We played with real character and when it was 11v10 we performed a lot better. We came up against a goalkeeper who pulled off a lot of saves”.
Coach Barcelona, Luis Enrique on the loss:
“It doesn’t matter whether it was a fair result or not – that was the result. It was like living the nightmare all over again – a nightmare that all Barça fans went through already not so long ago … We were impotent in the first half, not good enough in the second. We have to work out in detail where it all went wrong. Our positioning wasn’t up to the required level. We were lacking intensity and you can’t afford to do that against Juventus in the Champions League.
“But in the second half we were as good as, if not better than, Juve. We got the ball moving better, created clear chances, but we didn’t have that little bit of luck that you always need. But it’s the first half that I can’t get out of my head. It’s such a shame because I know how much the players wanted to get out there and compete.”
