Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid FT 2-2 (4-3): Madrid advances to third straight Champions League final

FULL TIME — 2-2, 4-3 AGGREGATE. REAL MADRID IS GOING TO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL.

A wild final few minutes saw Madrid handle several waves of Bayern attack, but in the end, they were able to do enough to keep them out. I thought Bayern had a chance at the last moment of the match, but Muller wasn’t able to connect (he might have been offside) and the match ends. Real Madrid is going back to another Champions League final, their third in a row.

93’ — Navas AGAIN. This time Hummels finds himself in space in the box, and tries to play across to Lewandowski. The ball pops up, still in the path of Lewandowski ... and Navas flies in out of nowhere and clutches the ball in his grasp. We’ve got 5 minutes of added time called for, but who knows how long the ref will let this one go.

91’ — After a ball was played in by Bayern, Navas clears in a crowd of bodies. When the dust settles, it appears that every Real Madrid player in the scrum is injured. Call me skeptical, but I’m not sure all those players are actually hurt.

A minute later, a corner kick lands on Mats Hummels head, and for the second time tonight, it skips off it and goes wide.

87’ (4:30 p.m. ET) — SUBSTITUTION REAL MADRID. Nacho, who was initially warming up like in the 20th minute, will finally come on for Asensio.

84’ — SUBSTITUTION BAYERN. Javi Martinez on for James Rodriguez. Rodriguez had just kicked the ball out of play after Asensio went down with a cramp, much to the dismay of his teammates. A friendly nod to his former club? An apology for that weirdness earlier when the ref blew the play dead because of another ball on the field, and then Bayern booted it? I have no idea. Anyway he’s off now, after scoring the second.

81’ (4:23 p.m. ET) — Everyone looks very tired all of a sudden. We’re like four minutes away from Cristiano Ronaldo scoring against the run of play and taking his shirt off, aren’t we. I’ve seen this movie before.

75’ — SUBSTITUTION BAYERN. Wagner on for Tolisso. The big striker comes on for a midfielder, and Bayern is going for it over these last 15 minutes. Let’s go.

74’ — Another absolutely ridiculous save from Navas on a volley from Alaba, after a bouncing ball in the box, which was bouncing there thanks to another cross that Madrid didn’t fully deal with. This is up and down stuff.

73’ — SUBSTITUTIONS MADRID. Casemiro on for Kovacic, Bale on for Benzema. Here is Casemiro to try and offer some stability to the Madrid midfield, and Bale on to run around up that right wing. Ronaldo moves to the striker role.

63’ — GOAL BAYERN MUNICH, 2-2 (4-3 on aggregate to Real Madrid). Dizzying stuff. The goal is from James Rodriguez, and he won’t celebrate against his previous club. A bit of sustained pressure from Munich, Madrid again struggling to handle crosses, and this time it’s Rodriguez who capitalizes, pouncing off a deflection, and getting to the ball first for a tidy finish under the Madrid keeper. WE GOT A TIE AGAIN.

54’ — Madrid is running rampant at the moment. Cristiano Ronaldo just had two clear chances, one from a cross that he just couldn’t get a foot to. Then, moments later, Marcelo put a perfect cross onto Ronaldo’s right foot, unmarked, about five yards out, and he put it over. The handsome, chiseled man is very sad.

51’ (3:52 p.m. ET) — Absolutely incredible save from Madrid keeper Navas, after a rocket shot from David Alaba is deflected by a Madrid player. Complete reflex save from Navas, who was leaning left, then somehow got down to his right to get a hand to it.

46’ — GOAL REAL MADRID, 2-1. What the hell just happened? A pass back to Bayern keeper Sven Ulreich 20 seconds into the half, and he decides to ... I’m not sure. He came out as if to collect it with his hands, then realized, Oh wait my teammate passed that to me, so instead of doing that he elected to just ... let the ball run past him. Then Benzema kicked it in an open net. Oy yoy yoy.

Close your eyes, Bayern fans:

HALFTIME. The score is 1-1, with Madrid leading 3-2 on aggregate.

45 + 2’ — Another penalty appeal, and honestly, one I’ve seen called plenty of times. A Kimmich cross is blocked by Marcelo, it’s just Marcelo used his left hand to block it. It’s unclear if the handball occurred inside the box or just outside of it, but understandable that Kimmich is not pleased.

44’ — Bayern is really going for it, though Madrid seem to have shored things up slightly in the back. (Not sure about letting Hummels dribble the entire midfield with one touch as he did on the last chance, but you know.)

The thing is, if Madrid can handle the pressure, they are going to have chances on the other end. And if Bayern is going to leave two in the back, Ronaldo, Asensio and Benzema will feast at some point or another. THEY WILL FEAST.

33’ (3:20 p.m. ET) — I have no idea how Bayern Munich didn’t just score. Mats Hummels dribbles the entire defense, plays in Lewandowski, who fires low off of Navas’ foot. (A nice save, to be fair.) The ball popped up, and after a blocked header from Muller, James Rodriguez puts his foot through the ball ... and goes over from about a yard away.

28’ — Real Madrid keep doing the thing where they get battered for five minutes straight, finally get possession, then link like seven perfect passes and get in on goal. This time it’s Ronaldo getting the ball in space and finding Marcelo down the left, who takes one touch too many and has his cross sent out for the corner.

On the ensuing corner, Madrid finds a chance again after a short corner, but can’t convert.

Still 1-1 with a 3-2 aggregate score in favor of Madrid.

23’ — Speaking of Bayern finding a ton of space, Madrid has started warming up potential defensive substitution Nacho on the sideline. There’s zero percent chance Zidane pulls off Cristiano Ronaldo, but it would be funny only because I think Ronaldo would sit on the field and refuse to leave. He’d conjure up handcuffs and chain himself to the post.

17’ — Penalty appeal from Bayern, after Robert Lewandowski is fed the ball in the box, does well to turn, and then is tangled up with Madrid’s Sergio Ramos.

Referee Cüneyt Çakir wasn’t interested.

Also: Bayern is finding a lot of room to work in the space between Madrid’s defense and midfield.

14’ — Now several more chances for Bayern. The big question for Madrid ahead of the match was why no Casemiro in the starting lineup. Zinedine Zidane may have been concerned with his yellow-card situation and wanted to make sure he had his midfield anchor in the final, but Madrid has looked a bit shaky defensively so far without him.

11’ — GOAL REAL MADRID. And just like that, it’s 1-1. Real Madrid doing exactly what they do. This team lulls you to sleep, and they take chances better than anyone. This time Marcelo found himself with the ball in space on the left side. Kimmich was slightly slow to close down, and that was all Marcelo needed. A quick touch endline, a cross to the back post, and Karim Benzema nods home.

I was just writing about how settled in and compact Bayern looked on defense, too ... Stupid, Nate. Stupid stupid stupid.

Real is up on Bayern 3-2 on aggregate.

3’ — THAT DIDN’T TAKE LONG; GOAL TO BAYERN MUNICH. An early cross, a bungled clearance, and Joshua Kimmich is there to pounce for his second goal of the tie. Bayern still need one more as Madrid has the away goal, but this was the start the German side wanted.

1’ — And we’re off!

Starting lineups

Pregame:

Bayern Munich will travel to Madrid on Tuesday for the second leg of their semifinal matchup against Real Madrid.

Madrid took a 2-1 lead in the first leg of the semifinal, off of goals from Marcelo and Asensio.

Here is all the info you need to watch the match:

Match info, plus how to watch on TV and stream

Match Date/Time: Wednesday, 2:45 p.m. ET, 8:45 p.m. local

Venue: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain

TV: Fox Sports 1 (U.S. - English), Fox Deportes (U.S. - Spanish), Sky Sport 1 HD (Germany), TV3 (Spain)

Online: Fox Soccer Match Pass, Fox Sports Go, fuboTV (U.S.), Sky Go Deutschland (Germany), Antena 3 (Spain)

Make friends: Check out Bavarian Football Works for more Bayern Munich coverage, and head over to Managing Madrid for more on Real Madrid.

Listings for more countries can be found at LiveSoccerTV.