Bayern Munich will not be going back to Wembley.
As they always do, Real Madrid found the goals they needed in a blur of late action at the Santiago Bernabeu. Bayern had a lead they deserved and a foot in the Champions League final. Then, Real slammed the door on them, scoring twice to advance 4-3 on aggregate and join Borussia Dortmund in London on June 1.
Did Bayern deserve better? Perhaps. When their anguish mellows, they might also reflect that they took plenty from this game, even if not a result. Bayern are a force in European football and that makes it hard to ever draw anything from not winning, but this was as close to a good defeat as it gets. Bayern lost well.
For much of Wednesday night, Bayern’s midfield was tough, their defence was holding and, despite being badly out-shot (19-8) and having less of the ball, they were threatening goals on the counter.
When one arrived, it was cruel in how it teased a perfect ending. Alphonso Davies has spent much of the season out of form and engaged in a contract wrangle that will most likely see him leave the club in the summer. Many expect his destination to be Real Madrid. It meant that when he scored with his weaker right foot, having been brought on in an unfamiliar position and only because of injury to Serge Gnabry, that strange chain of events seemed to suggest a kind of destiny.
Down the other end, Manuel Neuer was having one of his finest games in years. A first-half double save was magnificent. A series of juddering parries in the second were almost as good.
All over the pitch, season-long weaknesses were being hidden and stories were emerging. Aleksandar Pavlovic, a 20-year-old Bavarian who grew up in the club’s academy, led his team around the pitch with an authority that promises an exciting future. Konrad Laimer was terrific again, as he was in the first game and in the tie with Arsenal. Matthijs de Ligt had his most impressive game of the season. At the end of a long, hard season, during which Bayern have been mocked and belittled and had to walk through the rain, they played in a way that stirred the soul and which should have drawn neutrals to their cause.
The previous evening, Borussia Dortmund had overcome Paris Saint-Germain in eerily similar circumstances, inspiring a very similar response. They are a weaker team than Bayern but are flawed in many of the same ways, yet they survived. The two game plans were almost indistinguishable; it was like watching the same match for the second night in a row. Surely with an outcome to match?
It would not and that was a horrible trick.
Kane was substituted with the score at 1-0 to Bayern (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Harry Kane was substituted on 85 minutes. Joselu equalised after an ugly Neuer fumble just four minutes later. Thomas Tuchel claimed Kane was injured, but that will hardly stop the stinging criticism inevitably heading his way. And, while Neuer gave one of the great goalkeeping performances of the Champions League season, his mistake made that largely redundant.
Even after Joselu scored his second, the game had another sour note to hit at the end when a premature whistle denied De Ligt the chance of a late equaliser. He may have been offside, but Bayern descended into a rage at full time and in a way that distracted from the many positives that they deserved to take back to Germany.
“I find this unbelievable,” seethed De Ligt. “I cannot understand it. I’m not saying that Madrid always has the referee on their side, but today that made the difference.”
Thomas Muller was just as angry in the mixed zone. Tuchel, speaking to DAZN at full time, called the decision a “disaster”. There was certainly an early flag and possibly an injustice, too, but Bayern’s response seemed over-animated by their disappointment. That was hardly unreasonable under the circumstances, but they had earned the right to go out with grace and to reflect on what had gone well.
Bayern worked for their place in the game. As they did across the two legs with Arsenal and the first game of this semi-final in Munich, their football adopted that laser-focused seriousness always found on major occasions. It’s exactly what has been missing in the Bundesliga this season and yet, somehow, away from Germany and the endless negativity that their performances — and more recently their coaching search — have inspired, they were admirably disciplined. Yes, they defended too deep at times and their counters often lacked a final connecting pass, but this was a semi-final against a decadently gifted opponent that, ultimately, was decided upon the finest of margins.
It showed, too, what tomorrow may bring. Pavlovic was largely excellent. Progressive and brave with the ball, he will likely define the team’s personality in possession for the next decade. Jamal Musiala was quieter in Madrid but has, across the course of the tie, reminded everyone of how thrilling he can be. Add the revival of De Ligt, the versatility of Noussair Mazraoui, and the ruggedness of Laimer, and there is much to take into a new era. Kim Min-jae had good moments. Eric Dier showed himself to be a valuable component within the squad, too, capable of drawing qualities from the players around him.
All of those positives were detectable in Madrid. It was important that they were, too. One of the issues Bayern have been confronting is the need to dissemble and reconstruct the core of their side, which is a complicated process full of egos, perils and pitfalls. That is still true; it remains a daunting task for whoever succeeds Tuchel. But this European run has at least shown what a new Bayern may look like and what Max Eberl and Christoph Freund, their newly assembled technical dynamic, have to work with.
That is progress. Even if it does not feel that way.
(Top photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
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