How Real Madrid fought back to draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday

This was another European knockout tie that appeared to be teetering on the brink of disaster for Real Madrid before they delivered another of their trademark comebacks.

When Bayern’s quickfire brace of second-half goals had swung this game in their favour, Madrid had to take stock. For a while, it seemed that 2-1 was not such a bad result ahead of the second leg at the Bernabeu.

As they have done so often in recent years, Madrid rode out a storm and found a way to turn things to their advantage. At 2-2, with the return leg at a fired-up Bernabeu, Los Blancos will be confident of making yet another Champions League final.

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Leroy Sane was a doubt for tonight’s game due to a pubic bone injury and when the German international was named in the starting line-up, the anticipation was that he would be on the right flank — as he has been for the majority of the season.

However, injuries elsewhere meant Thomas Tuchel shuffled the pack slightly, placing Sane on the left and Jamal Musiala on the right, with Thomas Muller playing alongside Harry Kane in a 4-2-2-2.

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Madrid were struggling a quarter of an hour into the game as Bayern had six shots while no visiting player had come anywhere close to a chance.

Toni Kroos decided something had to be done, first with a super aggressive challenge on his old team-mate Thomas Muller, which was more about showing an example to his team-mates than actually winning the ball back.

Kroos began to get on the ball, move it around, giving his team-mates time and space to regain their composure. Then came his phenomenal assist for the opening goal, splitting the Bayern defence open completely, giving Vinicius Jr the chance to finish first time.

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After a few early contributions, Harry Kane was strangely quiet for most of the rest of the match. Lucas Vazquez stayed deep as Madrid’s right-back to help Rudiger in the Kane-Sane dilemma and Kane started drifting into other channels to look for service. When he finally got through on goal himself, in the 66th minute, Rudiger was there to knock him down with a powerful and well-timed shoulder.

But when Jamal Musiala went down for a penalty in the second half, it was Kane who stepped up to the spot, broadcast his chosen side with a deliberate glance that made Andre Lunin second-guess himself, and rolled a simple shot home for Bayern’s first goal of the tie. Even when Kane stumbles — as he did on his way to celebrate the penalty — he’s still the surest thing in Europe.

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How did Bayern’s defence leave Vinicius Jr that open for Real Madrid’s first-half goal?

The most obvious culprit was Kim Min-Jae, who bit too hard on a double move and left an ocean of space behind him. When Vinicius Jr abruptly switched gears and sprinted for goal, Kim just didn’t have the wheels to catch up.

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The Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid match dashboard, showing the threat timeline, territory, match stats, shot maps and pass networks.

Jamal Musiala spoke to beIN Sports after the match: "You have some positives, some negatives. We could have come away with a win today, we created a lot of chances. We defended quite well but Real Madrid have the quality to create something from situations where you think they won't create anything.

"It's a little bit of a bitter feeling but we'll keep our heads high and go again at the Bernabéu."

How did you guys see that one? Here are some of the reaction highlights on our discussion page.

• Tariq R: 💬 "Great game. Delicately poised. Some crass mistakes on both sides leading to the goals. With some excellent individual takes by Kroos, Vini, Sané and Musiala. Anything can happen next week but Madrid at home..."
• Ben W: 💬 "Missed a golden opportunity there. Hopefully Kano can do something in Spain."
• Anon: 💬 "Great game. I’ve got to admit, I remember there was a time when Madrid could be really boring to watch. But it’s been years since then and it’s no longer the case. What a joy to see this team."

And if you like how these look, make sure you get involved next time.

Konrad Laimer spoke to Amazon after the draw: "It’s only half-time. It was an up and down game. We started well but then tailed off. This is typical Madrid. We know them, they slow the game down and then they’re there when they need to be. On the whole, we did well. They are all exceptional players. There's still a lot to play for and we know what we can do."

So we'll return next week for the second leg in Madrid, with Real and Bayern at 2-2 and level on aggregate come kick-off next Wednesday.

Here's Carlo Ancelotti reinforcing the point, asked whether the tie is now more or less difficult than it was before kick-off in Germany:

💬 "Same as yesterday. We come to this point in the season with a great opportunity to play another final. It will be very complicated and difficult because, as we've seen, we're playing against a great team. The tie is evenly matched. The fans are going to match us, without a doubt."

Jude Bellingham, who will turn 21 in June, made his 32nd career appearance in the Champions League tonight. In the history of the competition, only Cesc Fàbregas (34) has made more appearances before turning 21. If Real Madrid reach the final and Bellingham plays in both remaining matches, he will draw level with Fàbregas.

Similarly, Eduardo Camavinga, who will turn 22 in November, played his 30th match for Madrid in the UCL tonight. Only Iker Casillas has reached this milestone with Madrid at a younger age than the Frenchman.

What a night for Vinicius Junior, who showed his true quality - not by dominating the game or influencing many of its moments, but by making the most of his opportunities.

And that goes for playing as the focal point of Real Madrid's attack tonight. It certainly got Carlo Ancelotti's nod of approval, which you would expect given he starting Vinicius Jr in the role. Here's Ancelotti on his Brazilian forward:

💬 "I think he can play there. Now he has learned to move well without the ball. You also have to have a midfielder who can pass like that, like Kroos did. And then he's very cold towards goal."

All of which Vinicius Jr proved tonight.

Here's how Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti saw those first 90 minutes of the semi-final play out, speaking to our correspondent Mario Cortegana - and his comments on Bayern Munich's level tonight says a lot if you ask me:

💬 "The effort made by the team was great, especially at the end to try to equalise. What I think is that Bayern were at their best and we were only partly at our best.

"The need for fresh legs - that's the only way I can explain the change of Kroos. He was spectacular. Bellingham had cramps, he couldn't keep playing. I have resources and I have to make the most of them.

"I think (Bellingham) is going to get back to his best (after illness at the weekend). He didn't play at his best today but he will be back very soon. He will be 100% by Wednesday."

Thanks to his goal from the penalty spot, Kane has drawn level with Kylian Mbappe as the joint-top scorers this season across all competitions by players in the top five European leagues:

1. Harry Kane: 43 goals in 43 apps
2. Kylian Mbappe: 43 in 44
3. Erling Haaland: 32 in 40
4. Loïs Openda: 28 in 42