10 YEARS AGO TODAY: GERMANY DESTROYED BRAZIL

 

BAYERN PROVE TO BAYERN THEIR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MYTHICAL STATUS

Jamal Musiala and Vinícius Júnior stood out for their respective teams as Bayern Munich drew with Real Madrid in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal. (Photo by Antonio Villalba/Real Madrid via Getty Images)

 MUNICH, Germany -- When manager Thomas Tuchel was asked this week to assess Bayern Munich's challenge against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League semifinal he paused for a second before explaining they would not just be facing a team, but also a "myth."

The Spanish giants have been so successful in Europe's premier club tournament, he said, that it couldn't simply be a case of talent and experience, but also something almost supernatural. Whatever it is that takes over Real Madrid in this competition was in evidence again at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.

On a night of fine margins, Bayern edged the game by nearly every statistical measure. But yet when the second leg kicks off at the Santiago Bernabeu in eight days' time, it will be Real Madrid in pole position to reach the final at Wembley in June thanks to a 2-2 draw secured in Munich. There's no other team in the world that knows how to get over the line like Real Madrid in the Champions League and from here it would be a surprise if they didn't finish the job in Spain next week and give themselves a chance of a record-extending 15th title.

Afterwards, Tuchel was left frustrated, but he's seen it all before. "Real Madrid have done it before, scoring two goals out of two chances," he said in his post-match news conference.

"We are not the first team to which it happens. They are clinical and have the patience to wait for it. Real Madrid does this to teams so we should not be disappointed for too long."

Delicately poised, this tie is not over and Bayern still have 90 minutes to turn it around. But as their players joined hands in front of the still-bouncing Sudkurve at the final whistle, they looked like a group contemplating what might have been. They outplayed Real Madrid for the first 20 minutes but couldn't score.

Then, leading 2-1 early in the second half, they passed up opportunities to get a third. It's been another bruising week for Tuchel -- accused by Bayern honorary president Uli Hoeneß of not being able to "develop" players -- but he can be satisfied that his tactical tweak to bring on Raphaël Guerreiro at half-time and stretch the game with wingers Leroy Sané and Jamal Musiala injected his team with enough impetus to score two quick goals.

But in the end, the story was about Real Madrid, the aura of a champion team and that mythical presence that nobody can quite put their finger on. Often the build-up to these games -- two European heavyweights going head-to-head at the business end of the most prestigious club competition in the world -- is dominated by talk of pressure.

But Real Madrid have players like Vinícius Júnior. In the third minute, he was charged down on the touchline by four Bayern defenders only to dissect them all with a casual flick of the ball to a teammate as if he was having a kick-about with his friends on the street. Pressure? What pressure?

There was no panic either when, after 40 seconds, Bayern sliced through with three passes from goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to Sané and Andriy Lunin was forced into an early save. The 75,000 home fans roared with approval, but it barely seemed to make an impression on the slow heart rates of Vinícius, Nacho, Antonio Rüdiger and Toni Kroos.

Kroos used to play for Bayern and was booed mercilessly as he meandered over to take a first-half corner. The German midfielder is the epitome of this team, with the experience to slow the game down when it's needed but also the quality to quicken it up when the opportunity presents.

Spotting Vinicius darting behind Kim Min-Jae midway through the first half, he threaded a precise pass through for the Brazilian to score with Real Madrid's first shot of the night. The Brazilian has joined a prestigious group -- Cristiano Ronaldo and Jari Litmanen are the only other players to score in three consecutive Champions League semifinals. After Tuchel's changes had helped Bayern to score two goals in four minutes early in the second half from Sane and a Harry Kane penalty it looked as if maybe for once Real Madrid's stardust had been lost on the flight. Not quite.

Presented with a penalty in the dying minutes after Rodrygo had been tugged down by Kim following a rare move forward, Vinicius tucked it away to send his team back to Madrid with momentum and the promise of yet another final.

It was their seventh goal in the last 15 minutes of Champions League games this season, a record no other team can match, manager Carlo Ancelotti summed it up perfectly in his post-match press conference; Real Madrid did enough and there won't be many now betting against them doing the same at the Bernabeu.

"Bayern showed their best qualities and us only part," said Ancelotti, another with that necessary experience as he took charge of a record-equalling 10th Champions League semifinal. "We play against a great opponent and it's all still open. We need the best version of Real Madrid and we didn't see it today. Still, we have a great chance to reach the final."

And there, in a nutshell, is Real Madrid. Not at their best, but still right there in the Champions League. Again.

- Rob Dawson, Correspondent

WIRTZ SCORES GERMANY'S FASTEST EVER GOAL IN 2-0 WIN OVER FRANCE

AP Photo 

 LYON, France (AP) — Toni Kroos returned and Florian Wirtz scored the fastest Germany goal ever as they defeated France 2-0 in their friendly on Saturday.

Kroos, coaxed out of international retirement for the upcoming European Championship, wasted no time with a precise pass for Wirtz, who let fly from outside the penalty area to score in off the crossbar after seven seconds.

Kroos later confirmed they worked on the move in training.

The German soccer federation said it was the quickest goal ever scored in a national team game. The previous best was nine seconds by Lukas Podolski in a 2013 win over Ecuador.

Kai Havertz made it 2-0 after the break and Antonio Rüdiger produced a late goal-line clearance as the smiles returned to the German national team.

“It will do a lot of good,” Germany sporting director Rudi Völler said. “We always hoped and tried, also in the last games, to spark a bit of euphoria and I think we achieved it with a game like that.”

France, in contrast, was whistled derisively by the home fans at fulltime.

It was Germany’s second consecutive win over France, but only its third win in 11 games, giving Julian Nagelsmann’s team a timely boost before they host Euro 2024 this summer.

“It was an important step forward,” Kroos said after his first Germany game for nearly three years. “It was clear to us with regard to the European Championship that we were getting to the last opportunities to build some confidence and we'll take that today."

Kroos' return was just one of several team changes made by Nagelsmann in a pre-tournament shakeup.

“The question was whether it could bear fruit so quickly, the changes we made,” Kroos said. “We had a really good training week, though you often hear that and then it doesn't work out. But we were able to take it into the game.”

Stuttgart’s Maximilian Mittelstädt started for his debut at left back and Bayer Leverkusen's Robert Andrich also impressed in just his second Germany match. Stuttgart players Deniz Undav and Waldemar Anton also made their debuts as substitutes.

Undav drew a good save late on from France goalkeeper Brice Samba, who had just thwarted Mittelstädt as Germany threatened to make it 3-0.

The visitors showed bite and commitment and bossed the opening 20 minutes before Marcus Thuram fired the first French chance over. More followed. Marc-André ter Stegen denied France captain Kylian Mbappé the best opportunity in a one on one as the Germans withstood the pressure for the rest of the half.

Kroos was again involved in the second goal, combining with Mittelstädt at the back before Wirtz sent the ball to Jamal Musiala, who rounded the goalkeeper and cut the ball back for Havertz to score in the 49th.

Ousmane Dembélé flashed a shot wide of the far post in response, but the French were unable to exert the same pressure as before.

The German players had the number 83 on their tops before the game as they sang the anthem, corresponding to the remaining days before Euro 2024. The French sung their anthem a cappella, without music, then lined up beside their opponents for a message against racism. Then the stadium observed a minute’s silence for former West Germany stars Franz Beckenbauer and Andreas Brehme, who died in the last two months.