Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel brought Serge Gnabry and starlet Aleksandar Pavlovic into his side to face Real Madrid on Wednesday in the Champions League semifinal second leg clash.
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The German coach made three changes from the side that earned a 2-2 first leg draw against the record 14-time winners, including dropping veteran Thomas Mueller and midfielder Leon Goretzka.
Tuchel also selected Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt, fit again after a knee injury, to replace Kim Min-jae who gave away a penalty against Madrid at the Allianz Arena.
Defensive midfielder Pavlovic, 20, has burst into the limelight this season and was called up by the German national team for the first time in March, while Gnabry is fit to start after a muscle injury.
England striker Harry Kane leads the line for Bayern looking to add to his remarkable tally of 44 goals in 44 games this season across all competitions.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti brought Dani Carvajal back from suspension in his only change from the first leg.
The Italian rotated heavily at the weekend when his team secured the Spanish league title with a win at Cadiz, but restored his first-choice side for the mouthwatering Santiago Bernabeu battle.
The coach selected Carvajal at right-back in for Lucas Vazquez, who struggled in Bavaria against Jamal Musiala.
Ancelotti’s other big decision was who should partner Antonio Rudiger at the heart of the defence and he opted for captain Nacho Fernandez, as in the first leg.
Up front Vinicius Junior, who netted twice in the first leg and Rodrygo Goes are backed up by the club’s top scorer this season in Jude Bellingham.
Starting line-ups:
Real Madrid (4-4-2)
Andriy Lunin; Dani Carvajal, Antonio Rudiger, Nacho (capt), Ferland Mendy; Aurelien Tchouameni, Toni Kroos, Fede Valverde, Jude Bellingham; Rodrygo Goes, Vinicius Junior
Coach: Carlo Ancelotti (ITA)
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1)
Manuel Neuer (capt); Joshua Kimmich, Matthijs de Ligt, Eric Dier, Noussair Mazraoui; Konrad Laimer, Aleksandar Pavlovic; Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry, Jamal Musiala; Harry Kane
Coach: Thomas Tuchel (GER)
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (POL)
Bayern face uncertain future after Champions League exit
Bayern Munich’s Champions League elimination at the hands of Real Madrid on Wednesday will kick-start a summer of soul-searching with the German giants facing an uncertain future.
Just 12 months away from hosting the Champions League final at their Allianz Arena home, Bayern will begin a summer rebuild without knowing who will be in the coaching dugout next season.
Dethroned as German champions for the first time in 11 years by Xabi Alonso’s rampant Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern’s Champions League run offered a sense of salvation for a club in a mire largely of their own making.
Bayern agreed to part ways with manager Thomas Tuchel in February after falling behind Leverkusen in the title race. Despite talk of a “mutual decision” Tuchel at the time said he would have preferred to stay in the role.
While Tuchel’s stock has since risen after taking Bayern to within minutes of a Champions League final, several candidates have already knocked back a chance to replace him as coach.
Alonso, one-time mentor Julian Nagelsmann and former Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick have all reportedly declined Bayern’s interest.
The last-minute elimination, headlined by referee frustrations and an uncharacteristic error by captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, means a first trophyless season since 2012.
A season without silverware is always an unthinkable outcome in Munich. But with Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final and Leverkusen on course for a treble, Bayern have plenty to ponder.
‘A VERY PAINFUL DEFEAT’
Speaking at a gala dinner at a gourmet Madrid restaurant hours after the elimination, Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen spoke to players and club officials, including Tuchel and honourary president Uli Hoeness.
Dreesen acknowledged the “very painful defeat” but said the 2025 Champions League “home final is our big goal now!”
The former banker’s speech, intended to cut through the disappointment in the room, was greeted with sporadic applause.
Hoeness, who has officially stepped down from club duties but remains Bayern’s principal powerbroker, criticised Tuchel just a fortnight ago for his inability to develop junior players.
“He doesn’t think you can improve (Alphonso) Davies, (Aleksander) Pavlovic or (Jamal) Musiala.
“He thinks if it doesn’t work, you should just buy another one. I think you should work with them and give them confidence.”
That all three played a starring role on Wednesday – with Davies scoring Bayern’s only goal and Munich local Pavlovic anchoring defensive midfield – only serves to highlight Hoeness’ misguided criticism.
‘I LOVED MY TIME IN ENGLAND’
Tuchel said Hoeness had “hurt his honour as a coach” but for Bayern the statements not only eroded any chance of holding onto Tuchel, but turned potential other targets away from the role.
Tuchel had previously left the door ajar to staying at Bayern beyond the season, but said on Wednesday night “it’s no secret that I loved my time in the Premier League with Chelsea and in England.”
Bayern sporting director Max Eberl, in the job since March, faces several challenges on the pitch.
Alonso’s decision to knock back Bayern as well as reported interest from Liverpool and Real means Leverkusen will again be a real threat next season.
Dortmund may be fifth in the league this season but could go into the next campaign as Champions League winners.
Several of Bayern’s biggest stars, including Leon Goretzka, Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry, are under performing, with their output not matching their weighty pay packets.
Defenders Dayot Upamecano and Min-jae Kim, who cost a combined 92.5 million euros ($100 million), have largely ridden the bench in recent months, with Tottenham outcast Eric Dier preferred to partner Matthijs de Ligt at centre-back.
The club’s better performers are also on the wrong side of 30. Neuer, who impressed despite his mistake, is 38 and Thomas Mueller turns 35 this year.
Harry Kane, undoubtedly Bayern’s star this season with 44 goals in 45 games, will turn 31 in summer.
The combined challenges means Bayern, trophyless and without a manager, face the biggest challenge to their hegemony in a generation.
Inevitable Real continue Champions League love affair
Real Madrid turned to the same old story in the Champions League and even though Bayern Munich knew all of the words, they were powerless to stop the kings of Europe pulling off another improbable and yet inevitable comeback.
Joselu’s late double fired the record 14-time winners into the Wembley final on June 1, just as it seemed Bayern had set up another all-German battle as in 2013.
Madrid’s Jude Bellingham will face his former team Borussia Dortmund in search of the 15th, after Los Blancos returned from what he described as “dead and buried” to triumph.
“We saw ourselves in the final and now I’m lost for words,” said shellshocked Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
“Madrid are immortal,” wrote Spanish newspaper Marca. “The eternal miracle,” proclaimed another capital publication, AS.
Madrid will be firm favourites to extend their dominance in Europe after reaching their sixth Champions League final in the last 11 years and winning five of the last 10.
Regardless of whether they are outplayed, as by Manchester City in the quarterfinals, or on the verge of elimination, as against Bayern, Madrid so often find a way where other teams would wither.
Alphonso Davies’ second-half strike had Bayern dreaming of a 2013 final rematch against Bundesliga rivals Dortmund, but journeyman forward Joselu intervened in the dying embers of the match.
There is only one Don Carlito 🐐🏆#UCL pic.twitter.com/8xvjNztQh6
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) May 8, 2024
“It’s happened again – it’s happened so often,” marvelled Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti, a four-time winner of the trophy as a coach.
“Fans who push us on, a fantastic stadium, players who never stop believing – it’s simply something magical.”
‘Going for the 15th’
Madrid have enjoyed many spectacular comebacks over the years but the last time they lifted the trophy, in 2022, their run to the final defied belief at every step.
Two goals down on aggregate against Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16, an 18-minute Karim Benzema hat-trick sent them through.
Despite trailing Chelsea 3-0 in the semifinal second leg, a majestic Luka Modric pass and Rodrygo’s finish forced extra-time, and Madrid went on to win.
Thomas Tuchel was Chelsea coach at the time and even with that first-hand experience, the Bayern boss could not prepare his team for Madrid’s penchant for European magic.
Two injury-time goals in just over a minute from Rodrygo rescued Madrid in the semifinal against Manchester City – and even though Liverpool outplayed them in the Paris final, Los Blancos triumphed.
However the match which sprang to mind most readily was Madrid’s previous victory over Bayern in 2018, when goalkeeper Sven Ulreich made an inexplicable error to allow Benzema in.
This time it was veteran Neuer, who had excelled throughout, who suddenly found himself spilling a shot he would usually contain comfortably and Joselu pounced.
Fellow goalkeepers Gianluigi Donnarumma, Loris Karius and Edouard Mendy will have sympathy after they all committed high-profile errors against Madrid in recent years, contributing to Los Blancos’ burgeoning trophy cabinet.
AC Milan, with seven Champions League wins, are Madrid’s closest contenders on exactly half the Spanish giants’ tally.
Final opponents Dortmund have lifted the trophy on just one occasion, back in 1997, and few will give them a chance against the might of Madrid.
Since ending an 11-year dry spell by winning their 10th Champions League during Ancelotti’s first spell at the helm a decade ago, Madrid have not looked back.
“We always believe in ourselves… it happened again and we’re going for the 15th,” said Vinicius Junior, who scored the goal that won Madrid’s 14th.
Neuer laments ‘brutal, bitter’ Champions League howler
Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said his late Champions League semifinal howler against Real Madrid was “extremely bitter” as his side were knocked out of the tournament.
With just two minutes remaining, Bayern were leading 1-0 thanks to a 68th-minute strike from Alphonso Davies, the Canadian’s first Champions League goal, and seemingly on course to meet rivals Borussia Dortmund in the final at Wembley.
However, Vinicius Junior then sent in a simple-looking shot from outside the box and Neuer, who had impressed with a series of acrobatic saves all evening, spilt the ball into the path of Joselu, who levelled the scores.
You can’t but help feel for Manuel Neuer who up until the 1st Madrid goal was having another legacy performance.
It was vintage Neuer: strong, safe, robust and commanding.
It’s cruel that his mistake helps light the spark in the comeback. pic.twitter.com/J8NT4SIt4A
— Nico Cantor (@Nicocantor1) May 8, 2024
Joselu scored again four minutes later as Real took the lead in the tie to win 2-1 and 4-3 on aggregate, booking their ticket to face Dortmund in the final next month.
“It’s extremely bitter for me,” the 38-year-old Neuer said to DAZN.
“I expected the ball to land a bit differently to my chest but it went a bit higher and it was difficult to get a hold of it. And then Joselu was there quicker and it was difficult to defend.
“For a goalkeeper who’s been around for a while it’s something I’ve already experienced, but the goal was brutal.”
Manuel Neuer: “Anyone who’s ever played football knows how I’m feeling right now. That we’ve been knocked out in the closing stages, having led 1-0 until the 85th minute, it’s extremely bitter. We had taken one step to London, we saw ourselves in the final and now I’m lost for… pic.twitter.com/4LnI5bq1U0
— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) May 8, 2024
Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel said his captain’s mistake was uncharacteristic.
“‘Manu’ did incredibly well but then made a mistake he wouldn’t have made for 100 years,” said Tuchel
“It’s frustrating. If there’s anyone who didn’t deserve that, it’s Manu. We know who he is, what he’s achieved.”
🗣️ Thomas Tuchel: “Manuel Neuer was exceptional throughout the match, then he made a mistake that he will not make in another 100 years.” pic.twitter.com/yW96JTy8Sw
— Bayern & Football (@MunichFanpage) May 8, 2024
Defender Matthijs de Ligt, who had a late goal controversially chalked off for an offside in the lead-up, said Neuer was “unlucky.”
Neuer had “world class saves after world class saves” De Ligt said, explaining “but that can happen, it’s football. It’s unlucky at the end.”
Neuer, who returned this season after almost a year out with a broken leg, had begun to hit top form.
The 2014 World Cup winner is odds on favourite to be between the sticks for Germany at the Euros in summer, which kick off on June 14 in Munich against Scotland.
Wednesday’s loss means Neuer and Bayern will finish the season without a trophy for the first time since 2012.
