Atomic football in Munich: Bayern eliminates Real, unconvincing Arsenal schedules clash with Atletico

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Photo: FC Bayern Munich/Facebook
Bayern Munich and Arsenal have joined Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals.

The Bavarians eliminated Real Madrid on aggregate (6:4) and scheduled a two-legged tie with the current European champion, promising PSG, while Arsenal, with great difficulty, eliminated Sporting (1:0) and will play Atletico Madrid in the final.

The match in Munich was a spectacle to remember – Bayern and Real played one of the best matches in the last few years in the Champions League. The "Royal Club" had the advantage three times, but it was not enough to avoid another defeat (4:3) after (2:1) in Madrid.

It was a match in which football fans could enjoy all the charms of the most important side event in the world, especially in the first half, which brought as many as five goals and a lot of excitement before both goals.

The visitors from Madrid couldn't have imagined a better start. After just 36 seconds, Arda Guler took advantage of Manuel Neuer's gift and struck the unguarded goal from around 35 meters from the first kick, nullifying their rivals' advantage from the first match.

The Spanish giants' joy lasted only five minutes. Joshua Kimmich took a corner kick from the left, and Aleksandar Pavlović headed home from half a meter to make it 1-1 after a poor reaction from Andrija Lunjin.

In the 20th minute, Kylian Mbappe had a chance, but he received the ball poorly, and Konrad Lajmer interfered with him enough to prevent him from taking a quality shot.

Seven minutes later, Kimmich took a nice shot for the far corner, but this time Lunjin made a great intervention.

At the end of the half hour of play, the best moment of the match, and once again the main actor was Guler. The young Turk set up the ball 20-25 meters away and masterfully hit the top left corner of Neuer, who, together with the ball, ended up in the net.

Once again, the Bavarians had a relatively quick response, this time after nine minutes. Dayo Upamecano did everything right, brilliantly finding Harry Kane, who was inexplicably left alone (Luis Diaz pulled two players onto him) and from about ten meters hit the small net to level the score – 2:2. This was the Englishman's 12th goal of the season in the elite competition, his 50th in all official competitions.

Four minutes later, the "Kings" took their third lead. It was a great transition by Arbelona's team, Vinicius Junior passed the ball to Mbappe, who came from behind, eluded his rivals and routinely checked Neuer, scoring his 15th goal in the Champions League this season.

At the very start of the second half, Diaz took a shot, but Jude Bellingham blocked his shot.

In the 55th minute, Madrid had a huge opportunity to take the lead for the first time in this double-header – Trent Alexander-Arnold crossed, and Mbappe, falling from six meters, caught the ball, but Neuer made an excellent save.

Shortly afterwards, on the other side, Diaz found himself almost alone in front of Neuer, but he got tangled up in the reception and ruined a potentially great chance.

In the 66th minute, Federico Valverde fired a powerful shot from about 20 meters, but it went straight into the hands of a well-placed Neuer. After that, on the opposite side, Mike Oliseh, in his own style, looked for a further corner, but Lunjin prevented a sure shot with his fingertips.

Bayern could have equalized in the 75th minute. Oliseh made a break from the right, and Upamecano's header from the box was almost inaccurate.

After that, Olise tried his signature shot once again, but this time he shot just over the bar.

It was looking like extra time, and then in the 86th minute everything changed, to put it mildly, due to Eduardo Camavinga's recklessness. The Frenchman entered the game in the 62nd minute, and in the 78th minute he first received a yellow card for a foul, and then referee Slavko Vinčić showed him a second yellow card and sent him to the locker room after he refused to leave the ball in time after another foul. There will undoubtedly be talk in Spain in the coming days about this situation and the controversial decision of the Slovenian referee, who seemed not to be aware at first that Camavinga already had a card.

It took the Bavarians three minutes to equalize for the third time. Substitute Jamal Musiala attractively heeled the ball to Dias, who shot from 18 meters, the ball bounced off Militao and ended up in the net for 3:3.

It didn't end there either, Real rushed to all or nothing, opening up space for Oliseh, who put an end to the match with a fantastic goal.

After the match ended, the Spanish giant's players rushed towards Vinčić, and Guler earned a red card.

HAVERC'S GOAL FROM LISBON TAKES ARSENAL INTO THE TOP FOUR TEAMS

Unlike the spectacle in Munich between Bayern and Real, the match between Arsenal and Sporting was decided by a single goal.

Mikel Arteta's team celebrated last Tuesday in Lisbon with a goal from Kai Havertz in injury time (1:0), and there were no goals tonight at the Emirates.

There weren't too many real chances, and both of them hit the target.

Sporting did it at the end of the first half when Geni Katamo masterfully caught a volley, but the post was an ally of David Raja's goal. On the other hand, Arsenal shook the post at the end of the match, specifically Leandro Trosar.

In addition, Noni Madueke had a noteworthy opportunity early in the second half, when he shot diagonally from the left, but only hit the outside of the net.

The first semi-final matches will be played on April 28th in Paris and Madrid, while the return matches are scheduled for seven days later in Munich and England.

The grand finale is scheduled for May 30th in Budapest.

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