Real Madrid 4-3, the return of the “quarters” of the Champions League

Further on, for a place in the grand final, Bayern Munich will play the trophy holder, PSG, who went 4-0 on aggregate against Liverpool.

Chronicle by George Nistor, after Bayern – Real Madrid 4-3. Infernal gallop. The other final

There are Wednesday nights when some cities don't sleep and then there are cities that keep each other awake. With the thought of Munich, neither Madrid, that part of him, put his head on the pillow, but neither did several tens of millions of supporters who used to close their day in the foam of the best football has today.

In the north of the metropolis where Freddie once found the madness of loneliness that he recorded, for the first and only time on tape, under the name “Living on my own”, Bayern and Real shared their promise to leave nothing by halves.

It was felt even from the tunnel where the neon lights were burning red. It does not illuminate, but rather swallows contours. Olise, Mbappe, Kane and Valverde step out of it like a development room, between light and form, while the ball with stars sits in the center like a disco ball ready to break the light into fragments.

They told themselves that every touch will be a reflection, and every mistake a shadow that the years will hardly erase.

The Spartan of Salamanca and the Bavarian Belgian

In the stands, the “medium dough” bratwurst tends to become the “middle bread” between two worlds that meet only at matches, in the cold German society: the boys in the gallery, burdened by the noise of the day, and the corporatists of Bavaria, taken out of Excel formulas, not getting home either.

It doesn't feel like a duel. It's Bayern – Real Madrid, return of the quarters, with the Germans having the advantage after 2-1 in Spain. That Bayern that the European clubs look at like the Romanians looked at the Neckermann magazine before 2000. Not for what it is accessible, but for what it should be.

On the other side, the fog of immaculate and eager angels, of the capital, has to fix, beyond the table, and the deformed game. It can also be read on the face of the meticulous Arbeloa, “El Espartano”, as he said, after the press conference in which he quoted from the Spartan mothers: “With his shield on him!”. Either you go or you fall.

Vincent Kompany is also agitated. Scroll, don't accept the same frame twice. A great understanding of teams, it seems, he masks his grimaces under the eight-stitch cap, so original, like any other part of the outfits that will follow over the many minutes. You would say that the Belgian does not live, but illustrates.

Guler's cannonballs

Butter on the bread, the 1st minute told us, clearly and bluntly, that it will not be a match of the goalkeepers. Arda Guler took advantage of Neuer's mistake, surprised advanced, and opened the scoring with a perfect shot. Relax, Manuel, he's watching! No one has ever known a child to fall in love with football after a goalkeeping intervention, not even one by Oliver Kahn.

Five minutes later, Lunin was also at fault as he was ruled out of the game by Serbian-born German Aleksandar Pavlovic's header.

The pace remained high, almost uncontrollable, in the match without a collective mind. Ferland Mendy went down in the box and called for a kick from 11 meters (23') but play went on in the evening where the contacts had no time to be judged.

Real struck again, also through Arda Guler. The Turk put the ball down, looked short and sent it to the net, from a free kick (29'). Two decisive touches, the same catapult from another universe. More and more delightful.

Bayern was not far behind. He answered without missing a beat, through Harry Kane, who brought back the tie (38'), in a phase where the Madrid defense was caught on the wrong foot, exactly when it mattered.

But the half did not calm down. There was no way. Vinicius took the stage on his own, went through three opponents and opened a lane that didn't exist for Mbappe, present exactly where he needed to be, pushing the ball into the net (42').

He entered the cabins without any peace, with the feeling that the match cannot go down.

Diaz and Olise, fans of Offenbach

Upon returning from the cabins, the rampage took its limits. He played more calculated, more carefully, as if everyone understood that there was no more room for waste. Oxygen has become short, both for Bayern and for Real. Not standing, but in decision.

Neuer washed away his misfortunes, safely intervening on Mbappe's shot, sent to the center of the goal (55'), at a moment when the Frenchman seemed to add another page to his evening.

He then repeated the gesture, this time in front of Valverde, who shot powerfully from outside the box, but the Bavarian goalkeeper rejected again (66'). Two seemingly simple but necessary interventions in a match where every goal carried double weight.

Bayern responded less often, but not without intent. Upamecano stepped up to a set piece and headed over the goal (75'), an opportunity that kept the tension.

The minutes ticked by. The game narrowed. There was no more room for long breaks, but only for short, sharp attempts in smaller and smaller spaces. Each team began to play more with the mindset of error rather than opportunity.

The end came abruptly for Real. Camavinga saw the second yellow card and was sent off (86') after a foul and suddenly the rhythm put on survival clothes.

A minute before the end of regulation time, Luis Diaz made it 3-3 with a deflected, right-footed shot. The Germans were not satisfied, they wanted Offenbach's “Infernal Gallop” once more in the stands. Michael Olise also scored.

This is how the big evenings end, this is how a worthy match of the ultimate football ends and, one can say, a missed but missed final. Or at least one of them.

FINAL » Bayern – Real Madrid 4-3

• CLICK HERE for more details and statistics about the match;

• They scored: Pavlovic 6, Kane 37, Diaz 89, Olise 90+3 / Guler 1, 30, Mbappe 42

• In the 86th minute, Camavinga was sent off after seeing his second yellow card in the space of 8 minutes and Real Madrid played 10 in this end of the match

• In the round, Bayern won 2-1;

• Bayern will play in the semi-finals against PSG, who went 4-0 on aggregate against Liverpool

The goal scored by Arda Guler in the 40th second

The best frames from the match Bayern – Real Madrid

Bayern's footballers came out to warm up

Hey Joshua 👋 pic.twitter.com/0jGeviNrpJ

— FC Bayern (@FCBayernEN) April 15, 2026

The starting teams at Bayern Munich – Real Madrid

Bayern (4-2-3-1): Neuer – Stanisic, Upamecano, Tah, Laimer – Kimmich, Pavlovic – Olise, Gnabry, Diaz – Kane
Reserves: Urbig, Minjae, Goretzka, Musiala, Jackson, Davies, Ito, Guerreiro, Osmani
Coach: Vincent Kompany

Real Madrid (4-4-2): Lunin – Trent, Militao, Rüdiger, Mendy – Brahim Diaz, Valverde, Bellingham, Arda Güler – Vinicius, Mbappé
Reserves: Gonzalez, Navarro, Carvajal, Alaba, Camavinga, Gonzalo, Carreras, Ceballos, F. Garcia, Huijsen, Mastantuono, Pitarch
Coach: Alvaro Arbeloa

In the last trip of Real Madrid to Bayern Munich's stadium, the two teams recorded a draw, 2-2. It was happening in 2024, in the semifinals of the competition. Then Vinicius scored a “double”, and Sane and Harry Kane scored for the Bavarians.

Real Madrid is in a crisis, and for three games it does not manage to win. They lost with Mallorca in La Liga, followed by the defeat with Bayern, and most recently the Madrid team drew with Girona in the championship, score 1-1.

Bayern, on the other hand, are doing perfectly well: Vincent Kompany's side are unbeaten in all competitions since February. Their last draw was in March with Bayern Leverkusen, and since then they have won 5 consecutive victories.

We don't have to perform a miracle. Everyone who knows Real Madrid knows we don't need a miracle. We are ready to fight, make history and win. We are ready for the atmosphere. We like to play in such stadiums

–Alvaro Arbeloa, Real Madrid coach

And we know how to hurt them. I think we can win

– Vincent Kompany, Bayern coach