'The tie is far from over, it's more than possible that Bayern could win in the Bernabeu, but we are very happy to have won 2-1 in Munich,' says Zidane
Zinedine Zidane
Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane insisted progression to the Champions League final is no formality after his side won 2-1 in Wednesday night's semi-final first leg at Bayern Munich. Kimmich strikes Joshua Kimmich scored in the 28 minute to give Bayern the lead. Marcelo equalised in the 44th minute, after Bayern had lost winger Arjen Robben and defender Jerome Boateng to injury. And half-time substitute Marco Asensio struck after 57 minutes to give Zidane's men the advantage ahead of next week's second leg at the Bernabeu.
ADVERTISEMENT
"We're very satisfied with the result, but we had a lot of problems in the first few minutes trying to take control of the game," Zidane said. "The tie is far from over, it's more than possible that Bayern could win in the Bernabeu, but we are very happy to have won 2-1 in Munich."
Real's Marcelo (centre) celebrates with teammates after scoring against Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final first leg. Pics/AFP
Remembering Juventus
Real won 3-0 at Juventus in the quarter-final, but Juve drew level in Madrid and the Spaniards prevailed only after Cristiano Ronaldo's stoppage-time penalty. That will be used as a cautionary tale by Zidane. "We know that the tie cannot be over after one leg," he added. "After the Juventus match, we know we'll need to approach the Bayern result differently, otherwise things could go badly for us. "We can't have another night like that." Zidane praised Navas for his performance, refusing to dwell on Kimmich's goal, which came after Marcelo was caught out of position.
The Frenchman added: "Bayern's goal was a consequence of several people making mistakes, not just Navas. He was very good in the second half. I think we suffered a little tonight off the ball, I thought (Franck) Ribery was excellent tonight." Zidane also praised Marcelo, who equalised moments before the interval: "It's a good thing that Marcelo plays for us. It's not just about his goals, it's what he can do defensively too. He makes the difference at any moment." The German champions must now score at least twice and overcome the away goals advantage to have any hope of denying Real's progress to next month's final in Kiev.
150
No. of Champions League ties Real Madrid have won — first team to reach this milestone
Six
No. of consecutive European matches Real Madrid have won against Bayern Munich
Three
No. of times Bayern have lost after scoring first in a Champions League match
Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
