Real Madrid 2-2 Bayern Munich (agg 4-3): Player Ratings
Real Madrid have made their way into yet another final of the UEFA Champions League. Zinedine Zidane's men held their nerves in a feisty yet frantic second leg against Bayern Munich to book their tickets in Kiev. The two sides played out a 2-2 draw at the Bernabeu with Real Madrid winning the tie 4-3 on aggregate.
Joshua Kimmich opened the scoring for Bayern Munich. Karim Benzema levelled the proceedings with a header before scoring Real Madrid's second to give his side the lead going into the break. James Rodriguez made it 2-2 on the night but the Bavarians could not find that one elusive goal at the end that could have send them to the final.
It was a big occasion for both the sides and as expected, some players rose to it while some just bundled under pressure. In this piece, we will discuss every player's outing in the second leg and rate their performance out of 10:
Bayern Munich
Sven Ulreich: 3/10
The Bayern custodian made a hash of a simple back pass that gifted Real Madrid the second on the night which eventually turned out to be the winning goal.
Ulreich did not have much to do other than the two times Real Madrid did threaten on his goal. But when it mattered, Ulreich simply couldn't make it count.
Joshua Kimmich: 7/10
The fullback scored yet again for Bayern Munich after getting into the box expertly. Kimmich was a constant threat on the right and got the better of Marcelo on numerous occasions.
Niklas Süle: 6/10
The towering centre-back was solid when needed. He made one crucial block on Cristiano Ronaldo when he was getting through on goal. Süle covered for Hummels pretty well and made 3 interceptions.
Mats Hummels: 6/10
Hummels looked out of sorts at the start, losing possession in dangerous positions. He improved as the game went on and was a useful outlet with the ball.
David Alaba: 7/10
Alaba showed why Bayern Munich missed him badly in the first leg. The left-back was brilliant going forward; always being an option and pumping in some delightful crosses.
Thiago Alcantara: 7/10
The midfielder was effective on the ball as usual. He carved out spaces for the forwards and dictated the tempo of the game. With no Martinez in the side, Thiago did the defensive work to perfection as well, tracking and getting the better of Marco Asensio on numerous occasions.
Corentin Tolisso: 5/10
It was his back pass that led to a massive harakiri from the Bavarians for Madrid's second goal. But he was useful in possession and delivered the assist for the first goal. Tolisso could not create much in the final third barring that assist and was wasteful with his shots.
James Rodriguez: 7/10
The Colombian again was Bayern Munich's creative spark. He wanted to prove a point against his former side and did so by scoring a fine goal in the second half. Rodriguez had five shots on the night and if not for some heroic defending, could have scored the winning goal.
Franck Ribery: 4/10
The veteran got into dangerous positions but could not influence much. Ribery had Lucas Vazquez against him on the left but could not dominate him as much as one would have hoped for. He was also guilty of trying too much at times and subsequently losing possession.
Thomas Müller: 5/10
The captain put in some dangerous crosses from the right flank but other than that, Müller was only seen when appealing for a penalty. The forward again missed his chance to make a mark in the biggest of stages.
Robert Lewandowski: 4/10
If this was an audition for his move to Real Madrid this summer then Lewandowski has failed that miserably. Losing the ball in dangerous positions, sluggish with his movement and going anonymous for large parts of the game; it is safe to say that the striker had a horrible outing.
Substitutions
Sandro Wagner: 5/10
Wagner was looking to be a menace in the Real Madrid box but could not get the desired service. He had minimal impact after his arrival.
Javi Martinez: N/A
Martinez did not do anything worth mentioning in his short cameo.