After days of debate Cristiano Ronaldo started while Bale was left on the bench. This allowed Isco to start which seem to indicate that Real Madrid wanted the ball. All the contrary, Bayern Munich reached peaks of up to 80% of ball possession & boxed in Real Madrid most of the 1ºst half. However, Real Madrid has a wild card up their sleeve that very few Clubs in the World has an answer, the counter-attack. The first goal, & eventual winner, came from a counter-attack starting from Ronaldo, who passed to Coentrao who fought Karim Benzema to fire home in the 19th min.
Bayern Munich did not change their "suffocating pressure" game plan & kept Real Madrid defending. The Spaniards countered when possible & nearly scored twice with Cristiano Ronaldo missing a clear opportunity in one of those occasions.
The second half saw a more determined Real Madrid which managed to touch more the ball, but it was clear that tonight the defensive duties were to dominate, Excellent defensive work from Ramos & Pepe (injured mid 2 half), plus great work from Coentrao, Carvajal, Isco & Xabi Alonso who was everywhere & in the correct places when needed. Talking about being in the right place, Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas once again made a "miracle save" late in the second half to avoid Gotze equalizing for Bayern Munich. Bayern Coach Guardiola put on Javi Martinez & Muller to look for the equalizer but Real Madrid stood firm to hold onto to the victory.
Good result for Real Madrid & not too bad for Bayern Munich which will be disappointed somewhat for not scoring as they basically dominated most of the play. The 2º leg return match at Munich is going to be "high voltage" & with maximum tension as Bayern will be going all out to turn the tie around. After watching tonight's performance from Real Madrid, the Spaniards will suffer & I do not see clearly that they have this tie in the bag. But either do I see Bayern having it all their way as psychologically Real Madrid won tonight & this may be an advantage from Real Madrid away & a weight on the collective mind of the German team.
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