Real Madrid progress to the Champions League Final

Los Blancos draw against the Bavarians despite a lack-luster performance to progress to their third successive Champions League finals.

  Real Madrid saw off Bayern Munich in 4-3 aggregate in their UEFA Champions League semi-final after a thrilling draw at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday. Bayern scored in the 3rd minute itself but then Real equalized in the 11th minute with a Karim Benzema header. Bayern still pushed for the second away goal. The Austrian left Benzema free to redirect Marcelo's cross to make it 1-1 on the night and 3-2 overall in Real Madrid's favour. With Cristiano Ronaldo unmarked, Marcelo instead passed to Toni Kroos, while both Thomas Maller and James Rodriguez wasted opportunities for Bayern. In the 45th minute of the game, Marcelo appeared to have blocked Joshua Kimmich's cross with his hands placed near his body. The appeals for a penalty were brushed aside by the Turkish referee. After the restart, Benzema capitalized the mistake from Sven Ulreich in the 46th minute as the German couldn't hold off the pass by Tolisso. Still, Bayern looked very dangerous as they continuously attacked Real's defence but couldn't convert the chances. Real Madrid keeper Keylor Navas delayed the inevitable as long as he could, making a fine stop against Alaba and diving to thwart Mats Hummels before finally giving up a goal to former Blanco James, who scored in the 62nd minute. The final 28 minutes saw Real's defence continuously bombarded by attacks from Bayern, but the home side survived the onslaught and were headed to Kiev with thoughts of making history yet again. Real progressed to their 3rd successive Champions League Final and will look to extend their streak to 3 titles after a dismal domestic season.