Champions League Semi-Finals

The Champions League Semi-Finals brought action in their first leg. Bayern Munich and Real Madrid tied in Germany, while Borussia Dortmund upset Paris Saint Germain at home.

Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid

The Bavarians hosted Madrid, marking their return to the UCL semi-finals after being absent for the last 3 seasons. Bayern came out swinging, as winger Leroy Sané fired from inside the box at the 39 second mark, forcing Madrid keeper Lunin to make a good save.

Bayern controlled the game in the first 20 minutes, shooting 6 times, while Madrid had no shots at this point. Madrid however got on the scoresheet first, through Toni Kroos and Vinícius Júnior. In the 24th minute Kross found Vinícius with a through ball in behind Bayern’s defense. ‘Vini’ then calmy finished past Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer.

Despite Madrid’s breakthrough, Bayern continued to dominate possession, while also registering more shots. Their control paid off in the 53rd minute, when Sané ran across the Madrid defense to shoot hard at the near post. This shot caught Lunin off balance, as Bayern tied the game at 1-1.

Bayern kept pressuring Madrid, and won a penalty in the 56th minute, when Jamal Musiala danced passed Madrid’s Lucas Vasquez, with the latter making contact with Musiala. The following penalty was converted by Harry Kane, giving Bayern a 2-1 lead.

Bayern and Madrid would trade blows in the final 35 minutes, with both sides creating good chances to ass to the scoreline. For instance Bayern’s Eric Dier headed free from a corner straight at Lunin in the 67 minute. As for Madrid, Vini forced Neuer to make a good save in the 79th minute from close range, after chasing a through pass from Luka Modrić.

Madrid found a breakthrough through their efforts, after Rodrygo drew a foul off Kim Min-Jae in the penalty area. Vini stepped to take the penalty, and converted to bring the final score to 2-2 in the 83rd minute.

Borussia Dortmund vs. Paris Saint Germain

Dortmund and PSG in some ways had a cagey affair, as they only registered a combined 7 shots on target. Dortmund had 4, PSG had 3. In this close game, it was the Germans who found the breakthrough in the 36th minute through Niclas Füllkrug.

Füllkrug made a great run to get in behind the PSG defence, and defender Nico Schlotterbeck found him with a long ball. Füllkrug took a touch to set himself before blasting a shot past PSG keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Dortmund players celebrating effusivley, as they took an important step to possibly their first UCL final in 12 years.

Dortmund nearly doubled their advantage before the end of the half, when Füllkrug combined with Marcel Sabitzer, setting up the latter for a powerful volley inside the box. Donnarumma, made a good save, keeping PSG in the game.

PSG on the other hand, came very close to getting on the scoresheet in a wild 15 second sequence in the 51st minute. First Kylian Mbappé curled a shot that slammed against the far post from just inside the box. Then just 9 seconds later, Achraf Hakimi hit the near post from a snap shot just inside the box.

PSG had another golden opportunity to score five minutes later, when midfielder Fabián Ruiz sent a header from very close range just wide.

Dortmund had their best chance to double their advantage through Füllkrug. In the 60th minute Füllkrug sent a shot above the goal from 7 yards following a Jadon Sancho cross. In the end the two side traded imprecise blows, and the final score remained 1-0 to Dortmund.

Thank you for tuning to our coverage of the Champions League Semi-Finals.

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