UCL 2016/17: Real Madrid 4-2 Bayern Munich - The Best & The Worst Players

Manuel Neuer was at his best but it wasn’t enough

Real Madrid recorded a memorable victory over Bayern Munich to progress to their 7^th consecutive UEFA Champions League semi-finals, albeit in controversial fashion. With the game evenly poised, Arturo Vidal was sent off in the closing stages of the game for a legitimate tackle on Marco Asensio.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who had already scored once, added two more to his tally in extra-time against 10-men Bayern Munich, however, both of his goals were offside. Ronaldo, Real Madrid and their fans would not complain but Bayern Munich would feel they have been robbed of an opportunity to compete with the reigning champions on level terms because of some highly incompetent refereeing from Viktor Kassai and his assistants.

Here are the best and worst players from the game:

Honourable Mentions:

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Best – Manuel Neuer

If Bayern Munich had a chance in the second leg to make a comeback against Real Madrid, it was down to some extraordinary goalkeeping from Neuer to deny Ronaldo and company in the first leg at Allianz Arena.

The German shot-stopper did concede 6 goals over the course of the two-legged tie but the scoreline could have been much worse had the 31-year-old not been at his best. He could not have done much to stop the goals that went in but he absolutely did his best to save the ones that he could – including that superhuman save to deny Ronaldo in Bavaria.

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Worst – The referees

Bayern Munich were undone by referees

To say that Real Madrid played with 12-men would be taking away sheen from what was undoubtedly a heroic performance. Zinedine Zidane’s side went toe-to-toe with Carlo Ancelotti’s men during the course of the two games – at least when the two teams were on a level playing field, i.e. with 11-men each.

Referee Viktor Kassai and his team got a host of decisions incorrect in the second-leg of the historic tie alone, which started with an incorrect offside call when Robert Lewandowski burst through on goal. It was followed by Kassai’s inability to give Casemiro his marching orders for a second bookable offence when he fouled Arjen Robben.

The referee, then bizarrely, decided to send Vidal off for a perfect challenge on Marco Asensio and tilt the momentum in Madrid’s favour, and all of this was just in regulation time. In added time, Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to put the tie to bed, however, the Portuguese was offside on both occasions and the assistant didn’t spot either of them.