Football

Home page

Football

Bayern book Champions League final date with Chelsea

25 April 2012 23:50 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Chelsea will have to overcome Bayern Munich in their own backyard to win the 2012 Champions League after the German side defeated Real Madrid 3-1 on penalties to book their place in the Allianz Arena showpiece on May 19, APA reports quoting ESPN.

After a pulsating semi-final second leg that finished 2-1 after 90 minutes (3-3 on aggregate) thanks to a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo and a vital away goal from Arjen Robben, the match progressed through a nervy extra-time period to penalties. In the end, Ronaldo, Kaka and Sergio Ramos proved the villains as Manuel Neuer made two outstanding saves to take Bayern to the final.

The prospect of a showdown with former Chelsea hero Jose Mourinho failed to materialise as Madrid failed to book their place in the final in front of their own fans at the Bernabeu. Mourinho, who never managed to take Chelsea to a Champions League final during his time at Stamford Bridge, suffered yet more semi-final heartache as Madrid got it all wrong from 12 yards.

The Portuguese, talking in the pre-match press conference, had complained of "bad luck" when explaining his previous semi-final losses, most notably pointing to Luis Garciaâ€™s â€™ghost goalâ€™ for Liverpool in 2005, but it was Madrid who got a huge stroke of fortune to take the lead in the sixth minute. Angel Di Mariaâ€™s volley thundered into the hand of David Alaba - who could do nothing about it - and Ronaldo coolly slotted the penalty while Alaba came to terms with the fact he would miss the final after the referee added salt to the wound by booking the Bayern player.

The goal was an extremely harsh blow for the Germans, who now needed to score, but they only had themselves - or more specifically Robben - to blame for not being level two minutes later. A fantastic cross by Alaba found its way to the Dutchman at the back post, but with an open goal beckoning the former Chelsea man sent his volley over the bar from five yards.

It was a miss that would be punished as Madridâ€™s exceptional attack went up the other end and carved out yet another disputed goal. Mesut Ozilâ€™s pass found a fractionally offside Ronaldo breaking into the space left by Karim Benzemaâ€™s diagonal run, and the Portuguese took one touch before sliding the ball past Neuer as the keeper attempted to set himself.

The scoreline read 2-0 but Bayern were every bit as dangerous as their hosts, so it was no surprise when they halved the deficit on the night to level the tie on aggregate at 3-3. Pepeâ€™s unnecessary push on Mario Gomez led to a spot-kick, and Robben - moments after his awful miss - showed plenty of resolve to squeeze his penalty past the diving Iker Casillas.

Half-time brought a sense of caution to the contest, with the second half proving a more measured affair, but Gomez really should have won it for Bayern with four minutes left when he took far too many touches after Robben had laid it on a plate for him.

With no goals scored in the added 30-minute period, which was bossed by Madrid, the tie went to penalties. Ronaldo and Kaka saw Madridâ€™s first two efforts saved by Neuer, before Casillas responded by denying Toni Kroos and Philipp Lahm. However, Ramos sent his effort woefully over the bar for Madrid, allowing Bastian Schweinsteiger to send Bayern through.