Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid: Final score 1-2, Cristiano Ronaldo scores brace in Champions League

Things started with Bayern Munich dominating affairs against Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal tie, but a red card for Javi Martinez and a second-half brace for Cristiano Ronaldo meant that Bayern fans went home disappointed after a 2-1 loss.

This match delivered on every bit of its promise as a high-level, technical game. Real Madrid and Bayern Munich put on a clinic of just how well two top-level teams can play, constantly countering each other with tactical shifts and surprising passing sequences. But for much of the match, it felt like Bayern held something of an edge, and they turned that edge into reality just 25 minutes in.

After an attacking sequence that saw Franck Ribery stonewalled by a quality headed clearance from Gareth Bale, the resulting corner saw Arturo Vidal working against Nacho in the penalty area. That’s a matchup that was only going to go one way, and it ended with Vidal unleashing an absolute cannon shot of a header past Keylor Navas and into the back of the net.

Bayern dominated most of the rest of the half, though Real Madrid did have a few moments of quality here and there. They nearly were staring down an unjust two-goal deficit, though, when the referees awarded Bayern with a penalty just before halftime for what was called as a handball on Dani Carvajal on a Ribery shot. However, replays clearly showed that the ball came off Carvajal high on his shoulder, nowhere near where a handball can be called.

Fortunately for Real Madrid, Vidal skied the resulting shot from the spot badly, Then, despite dealing with a pair of injured players in Gareth Bale and Casemiro, the Spaniards came out swinging in the second half and got a huge early goal from Ronaldo to level the score even though much of the match felt as if it was going Bayern’s way.

The momentum well and truly shifted in Real Madrid’s favor at the hour mark, though, with Martinez making two rash and sloppy fouls minutes apart from each other to earn himself a pair of yellow cards and an early shower, putting his team down a man at a crucial and unfortunate time. Bayern actually responded well to the setback with their tactical shifts, but the extra space and freedom Real got as a result of going up a man changed the flow of the game.

It actually looked for a time that Bayern were going to hold out and keep the score at 1-1 heading into the second leg, but Ronaldo popped up again to tap the ball in past Manuel Neuer just moments after the big German goalkeeper had made yet another huge save. That goal was Ronaldo’s 100th in all European competitions. More importantly, it gave Real Madrid an important 2-1 lead to take into the second leg of this Champions League quarterfinal tie.

It’s a disappointing result for Bayern after their early dominance — though not as bad as the 3-1 it could have been had Toni Kroos stayed onside in a called-off goal in stoppage time — but they’re still very much in this tie. They have the ability to get the win at the Santiago Bernabeu, but they cannot afford to have the kinds of lapses in concentration that cost them this game.

Bayern Munich: Manuel Neuer; Philipp Lahm, Javi Martinez (red 61’), Jerome Boateng, David Alaba; Xabi Alonso (Juan Bernat 63’), Arturo Vidal, Thiago Alcantara; Arjen Robben, Thomas Muller (Kingsley Coman 81’), Franck Ribery (Douglas Costa 67’)

Goal: Vidal (25’)

Real Madrid: Keylor Navas; Dani Carvajal, Nacho, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo; Luka Modric (Mateo Kovacic 90’+1), Casemiro, Toni Kroos; Gareth Bale (Marco Asensio 58’), Karim Benzema (James Rodriguez 83’), Cristiano Ronaldo

Goals: Ronaldo (47’, 77’)

They may be old, they may be slowing, and they may not be quite the players they were a few years ago, but Robben and Ribery can still get the job done. Started again together on short rest after having an impressive performance as a wing duo at the weekend, they put in an excellent shift again in a huge match, giving Real Madrid players fits all game long.

Their ability to create from out wide and routinely get past Real’s fullbacks gave their defense all kinds of problems throughout the match, and it opened up a lot of opportunities for Bayern to work with in attack, even without Robert Lewandowski available in this match. Their quality keeps propelling Bayern to greater heights, and it’s a joy to keep watching “Robbery” do their thing at a high level.

Now, a starting duo of Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane is really good, and you could do a lot worse than to have Pepe be your primary backup. But each of those three players are prone to spending occasional time with the trainers during the season, and if Real Madrid run into a case like on Wednesday when two of them are hurt, they can only turn to Nacho.

And Nacho isn’t good enough.

He showed it on Saturday against Atletico Madrid, and he proved it on Wednesday against Bayern Munich. When Nacho is on the pitch, he’s the weak link for Real Madrid in a way that they can’t afford to carry because it puts just way too much pressure on the rest of the defense and even on the midfield to an extent. Then you look at how Arturo Vidal utterly dominated him on Bayern’s opening goal, and you just can’t help but feel that Real Madrid simply cannot allow their defensive depth to rely on him any longer.

There isn’t much to say about Ronaldo’s goal for Real Madrid from his perspective. It was a beautiful bit of footwork, a tidy finish, and an important moment — all pretty standard fare for Ronaldo’s goals, really. But there is one question lingering about that goal: what on earth was Martinez thinking?

Ronaldo checked his run in a way that’s actually pretty typical for him, then Martinez glances at him and just doesn’t respond to it. In fact, he keeps moving closer to goal. It’s like he thought, “Nah, it’s just Cristiano Ronaldo, he’s not a threat with space right in front of goal.”

Little tip for you, Javi: Ronaldo is a threat in front of goal, and he just scored on you. Nice work. And getting sent off for two really bad tackles 13 minutes later isn’t going to make up for it.