3 Real Madrid stars from another magical UCL night at the Bernabeu

90 minutes at the Bernabeu is a very long time and it was proven right once again when Real Madrid faced Bayern Munich in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals. Los Blancos successfully made a comeback after being 1-0 down until the 88th minute.

In a team full of superstars, an unlikely hero took centerstage as Joselu scored a brace in 3 minutes to put his childhood club into their sixth UCL final in 10 years. Real Madrid’s miracle man, Carlo Ancelotti, makes his third UCL final with the club. The Italian stands on the verge of winning the 15th UCL title for Real Madrid, his fifth as a manager, having won Los Blancos their 10th exactly 10 years ago.

Real Madrid created much clear chances in the game against the Bavarian giants, accruing 2.8 expected goals compared to 0.4 for Thomas Tuchel’s men. They registered 31 touches inside the opposition box compared to 13 from Bayern Munich in the second leg. It was a good performance sprinkled with typical Real Madrid aura on UCL nights.

Here are three players who were the pillars of Madrid’s win over Bavarian giants.

Vinicius Jr

When the lights are the brightest, Vini has always levelled up and delivered. No player has recorded more goal contributions than the Brazilian since the start of 2021-22 season (31). While he didn’t register a direct assist in the second leg, it was the 23-year-old’s initial shot that Manuel Neuer spilled for Joselu to score from.

The electric winger wreaked havoc on the left flank and spun Joshua Kimmich inside out on most ocassions. His 14 attempted dribbles was almost four times the next best player in the game (Alphonso Davies – 4 dribbles). His 11 progressive carries was the most by any player in the game, no other player had more than five in the game. He was an excellent outlet and helped Madrid as always to enter into dangerous territory consistently from the left hand side.

Despite being injured for a couple of months during the season, Vinicius has recorded 18 goals and 9 assists across La Liga and UCL. This is Vinicius’ team, he is the talisman for Ancelotti’s side and has proven his mettle coming up against all sorts of fullbacks across the world. His explosiveness and trickery is too much for the opposition fullback to keep up with throughout the 90 minutes and we saw that with Kimmich in the second leg.

Toni Kroos

Toni Kroosi is magisterial, no other way around it. The German is performing on a different stratosphere compared to the rest of the midfielders across the world. Another game where he had over 100 attempted passes while maintaining a completion rate of around 88%. All of this despite playing 68 minutes in the game.

The German controlled proceedings in the middle, helping progress and circulate possession. His five progressive carries is the most by any outfielder in the game and his 19 passes into the final third is almost four times as many as the next best Madrid player. It was his ability on the ball that let Madrid have sustained spells of possession against Tuchel’s men and helped them create a lot of these chances from open and set-play.

After picking out Bayern’s defence in the first leg, Kroos was once again at helm as a controller helping Madrid dominate his former side.

Antonio Rudiger

Antonio Rudiger has lived up to his reputation as one of the best center-backs in the world before joining Los Blancos. He has now managed to keep Erling Haaland and Harry Kane in check in back-to-back matches. The German’s on-ball qualities have been the cherry on top of his rock solid and menacing defensive presence at the back. He is dominant in the air and reads play exceptionally well but can also kickstart attacks with his passing and vision.

He picked up an assist for the match winning goal but also created a chance for Vinicius’ attempt in the 83rd minute with a well weighted and perfectly timed curling ball over the top. The former Chelsea man managed to knock his former manager out by keeping Kane & co under check in the second leg.

The hero of the quarter-finals, where he scored the winning penalty, was once again involved in the decisive action in the semi-finals. Rudiger is a pillar of this side and a real differential in either thirds of the pitch.