Kane and Bayern in driving seat despite Real Madrid fightback

Bayern Munich's Harry Kane celebrates. Pic: Tom Weller/dpa via AP

Champions League: Real Madrid 1 Bayern Munich 2 

The sands of European football may be changing after Bayern Munich delivered a keynote victory over Real Madrid, their first in 25 years, clinched by yet another goal from Harry Kane.

Kane scored just 20 seconds after the half-time break in a 2-1 first-leg win in the Bernabeu, his 49th of a remarkable season, on a night when the German champions looked the more organised, cohesive and ruthless side on a field where Real never expect to lose.

They had earlier gone ahead through Luis Diaz and although Kylian Mbappe, inevitably, got Real back into the tie it was a performance that marked Bayern out as potential champions as they head into the second leg with a lead.

The Germans have found Real difficult to get past in modern times, to say the least, and the home side went into this tie as heroes of the previous round when they trounced Manchester City over two legs.

But how quickly things change. This time they faced whistles and uncertainty just days after they also lost, to lowly Mallorca, in La Liga, leaving them seven points adrift of Barcelona in the title race.

Manager Alvaro Arbeloa must know his job is on the line as he looks to achieve a turnaround in Munich next week, especially as his side were torn apart by Bayern at times, not least when the mercurial Michael Olise was on the ball against his mismatched opponent Alvaro Carreras.

But a familiar late surge from the Spanish giants at least moved qualification for the semi-finals into ‘possible’ rather than ‘improbable’ in an entertaining tie in which both sides – and particularly Bayern - missed further opportunities to score at the end.

Champions League ties don’t come much bigger than Real v Bayern, so don’t underestimate what it means. 

The two giants have a total of 21 European Cups victories between them (15 for Real of course) and enough drama and history to fill a hundred movie scripts. This one was no different.

With the roof closed, noise trapped in, home fans turned up the volume expecting another definitive night, just like against City in the previous round when they stunned Pep Guardiola’s side with a performance that defied their recent patchy form.

Real come alive when the Champions League music plays and this is their competition, but Bayern’s stature is one of the few that can come close to matching the Madrid confidence and sense of entitlement.

Vincent Kompany proved it by going full-out attack in this first leg. With a front four of Michael Olise, Serge Gnabry, Harry Kane and Luis Diaz (all of them on form), the threat was obvious and it was Bayern who made a better start.

Only Dayot Upamecano knows how he missed a 10th-minute opportunity to put his side ahead. Set up, unselfishly, by Kane he was less than five metres from goal with only the goalkeeper to beat – but somehow scuffed a shot off the bottom of his studs.

The only problem for Bayern is that the more they attacked, the more dangerous Real looked on the break – a pattern that was filled with danger but also with irresistible entertainment for the neutral.

Experienced goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, making his 136th Champions League start for Bayern was outstanding throughout. He had to make two smart saves in quick succession early on, first keeping out an effort from Kylian Mbappe and then from Vinicius Jnr two minutes later. 

Both opportunities came from fast breaks and on both occasions Kompany must have feared the worst – as he did when Mbappe was denied yet again by Neuer before the half-hour mark.

This was a very different scenario to the City game when a determined Real outclassed their rivals, however. This time Bayern’s high press caused genuine problems. Gnabry’s miss when latching on to a terrible back-pass from young Thiago Pitarch rather summed it up.

The goal had to come eventually, and it was former Liverpool man Diaz who provided it, finishing with a flourish after a wonderfully crafted through ball from Gnabry shortly before half-time.

The fact that former Anfield teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold was the man to lose him made a subplot to the story, especially with England manager Thomas Tuchel, who dropped the full-back from his most recent squad whilst demanding greater defensive focus, sitting in the stands to take another look.

While Real fans whistled and spent half-time discussing a disjointed display – and wondering why Jude Bellingham had been left on the bench – Bayern wasted no time in pressing home their advantage. It took just 20 seconds to go 2-0 up after the break.

This time it was Kane, finishing unerringly from outside the box to score his 49th goal of another remarkable season.

It promised to be a tie-defining goal but hope for Real arrived from Alexander-Arnold with 16 minutes to go. 

The full-back racing up the right flank to deliver a perfect low cross for Mbappe to force home.

The goal came after Vinicius Jnr had previously rounded Neuer but fired wastefully wide - and at a time when the home crowd appeared to be losing faith, whistling their disapproval at their star man’s lack of accuracy.

As so often, though, Real refuse to give up in this competition, even when all appears lost and even when their form is wavering. 

Mbappe had two more chances to equalise and nobody in football will write them off. But Bayern have a real opportunity to be European champions for the first time since 2020, and that's a big moment.

Real Madrid: Lunin 6; Alexander-Arnold 6, Rudiger 6, Huijsen 6 (Militao 62; 6), Carreras 4; Valverde 6, Pitarch 5 (Bellingham 62; 6), Tchouameni 6, Guler 6 (Diaz 71; 6); Mbappe 8, Vinicius Jr 6.

Bayern Munich: Neuer 9; Stanisic 6, Upamecano 7, Tah 7, Laimer 7; Pavlovic 7, Kimmich 8; Olise 8, Gnabry 7 (Musiala 69; 6), Diaz 7 (Bischof 93); Kane 8.