The European Clasico lived up to its expectations and hype as Real Madrid and Bayern Munich played out a thrilling 2-2 draw at the Allianz Arena.
Carlo Ancelotti started the game with Nacho being Antonio Rüdiger’s partner in defense – which was arguably unexpected – and Aurélien Tchouaméni being the defensive midfielder.
The initial ten minutes were dominated by the home side as they forced a save off Lunin and took a few shots at goal as well. Real Madrid then kept possession for a while and tried to slow things down to prevent Bayern from potentially running away with the game.
Against the run of play, in the 24th minute, Toni Kroos plays a sublime through ball to Vinícius Júnior, who found space as Kim Min-jae was caught out of position. The Brazilian winger made no mistake as he found the back of the net, past Manuel Neuer.
Madrid’s press did not trouble the Bavarians much but the Germans were still unable to find the end product as the first half came to an end.
Konrad Laimer was the standout player in the midfield for Bayern as he played a simple pass to Leroy Sané who managed to cut in, went past Ferland Mendy, and scored an Arjen Robben-esque goal to find the bottom corner of Lunin’s net and equalize the score.
Just 3 minutes later, a reckless challenge by Lucas Vázquez inside the box resulted in the German side receiving a penalty which Harry Kane made no mistake in converting. For the first time in the game, Bayern had the lead and on multiple occasions had a chance to multiply their lead.
Luka Modrić came on for Jude Bellingham in the 75th minute and there were signs of urgency. The moment Real Madrid were waiting for occurred in the 82nd minute as Rodrygo was brought down inside the box by Kim Kim Min-jae, earning his side a crucial penalty.
Like last week against FC Barcelona, Viní scored the penalty, sending Neuer in the wrong direction in the process.
It was a riveting contest at the Allianz Arena as both European giants shared the spoils. This result means it’s all to play for at the prestigious Santiago Bernabeu and fans around the world should brace themselves for yet another classic next week.
