Harry Kane returned from an ankle injury to earn Bayern Munich a priceless 2-1 first-leg victory over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Luis Díaz opened the scoring shortly before half-time, finishing clinically after Bayern had threatened throughout the first 45 minutes. Kane then doubled Bayern’s lead just 20 seconds into the second half, side-footing in from the edge of the penalty area for his 49th goal of the season in 41 appearances. Kylian Mbappé pulled one back for Real in the 74th minute, tapping in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s low cross to make the tie more competitive ahead of the return at the Allianz Arena next Wednesday.
Manuel Neuer was outstanding for Bayern, making nine saves to keep his side in front. Both teams registered 20 shots each, with 17 on target in a breathless contest. Bayern looked the more cohesive side in the opening period, while Madrid remained dangerous on the counter through Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior.
Bayern centre-back Dayot Upamecano somehow failed to score from close range, with Álvaro Carreras clearing his effort off the line, and Serge Gnabry also missed a clear chance. Michael Olise caused Real problems all evening and played a key role in Kane’s goal, setting the striker up on the edge of the box for the decisive finish.
Vinícius was jeered by the home crowd after missing following a neat round of Neuer, and Mbappé also saw a low shot held by the goalkeeper. Jude Bellingham’s introduction lifted Real and Alexander-Arnold’s crossing quality produced the equaliser, although Neuer got a hand to the ball and it bounced off the underside of the crossbar before crossing the line. Neuer then denied Vinícius again, and Bayern substitute Jamal Musiala squandered a late opportunity, leaving the tie finely balanced.
Álvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid head coach): “I think he (Neuer) was the MVP, so we had so many chances to score some more goals. We couldn’t do it, but we are still alive and we will go there with hope that we can win in Germany. It’s not going to be easy. I played there many times and we know the atmosphere in the Allianz is not easy for the opponents. But we are Real Madrid, so we can win anywhere.”
Vincent Kompany (Bayern Munich head coach): “The few chances that I feel we should have put to bed, we will be able to score when we go to the Allianz. But I see no reason for us not to go into that next game with full belief and an idea to just go and win the game, although we play against a team with incredible talent.” On Neuer: “He makes it look so easy, that’s what you get with great goalkeepers. They make some incredible saves at really difficult angles look really easy, but there’s also a level of technique to pat the ball away from the dangerous area.”
Harry Kane (Bayern Munich striker): “Coming to Madrid and trying to get a result is always a difficult thing to do, but I thought we played some really good stuff today. For sure there are areas we could have done even better as well and maybe the final ball, the final finish, we had some good chances there but credit to them that they did as well. Manu made some really good saves so overall we can be really happy with the win and we take this into next week. We’re in a good position but it’s a one-goal lead, it can change really quick so we have to stay focused.”
Opta facts
– Bayern beat Real in the UEFA Champions League for the first time since April 2012 (2-1), ending a run of nine meetings without a win (D2 L7).
– This is only the sixth time Real have lost at home in the first leg of a two-legged knockout tie in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, and the first since the 2019-20 round of 16 v Manchester City (1-2). They failed to progress from each of the previous five ties.
– Real Madrid have already lost as many games under Álvaro Arbeloa (6 defeats in 19 games – W13) as they did in 34 games under previous manager Xabi Alonso (6 – W24 D4).
– This was only the second recorded occasion (since 2003-04) that Real Madrid have both had 20+ shots and faced 20+ shots in a UEFA Champions League knockout stage game — the previous instance was also against Bayern in a Bernabéu quarter-final (April 2017).
– Kylian Mbappé has scored 14 goals in 10 UEFA Champions League games this season, the most by a player in a single edition since Karim Benzema’s 15 in 2021-22.
The second leg at the Allianz Arena next Wednesday will decide who progresses to the semi-finals.