What did the opening Champions League semi-final duels reveal? Real’s productivity is at its best

The opening semi-final fights of the Millionaire competition are over. Dortmund are the closest to progressing and will defend their narrow lead in Paris. Real Madrid, who will have the home advantage after a 2-2 draw in Munich, can be satisfied. What did the first duels reveal?

Bayern Munich

The Bavarian side looked very compact in their first meeting. Thomas Tuchel’s team benefited from moving Kimmich to the right edge of defence. His place in the middle of midfield was taken by Laimer, who was one of the best players. The directness of wingers Musiala and Sané also caused problems for Real Madrid.

💯 Power 100 from Sané
✨ Perfect touch and finish from Füllkrug
🔗 Kroos and Vini combine

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The number one problem turned out to be the composition of the stopper pairing. The game didn’t go well at all for Kim, whose mistakes caused both of the two goals he received. Another stopper, Dayot Upamecano, was also far from making any mistakes and this time he was only on the bench. Bayern were also plagued by poor productivity, when they should have gotten much more out of their start to the game.

Real Madrid

This time, even in the weaker passages, there was no sign of any nervousness or unnecessary panic on the part of the White Ballet players. After a poor start, Real took the lead from the first chance, when the synergy of the experienced midfield (Kroos, Modric) and the speed of the Brazilian wingers (Vinicius, Rodrygo) was once again on display. The Madrid team is very good at switching from one style of play to another and is also very productive.

The performance of the star Jude Bellingham was disappointing. He did not follow up his excellent performance at the Etihad stadium and fatigue was evident. A recent bout of nausea, which forced him to miss Friday’s game against Real Sociedad, may have played a part.

Still indispensable seems to be Dani Carvajal, whose substitute Vázquez produced a rather unnecessary penalty. Bayern also often took advantage of the poor positioning of their midfielders, with Aurélien Tchouameni occasionally falling out of position, making it easier for the German team to get into dangerous areas

Borussia Dortmund

Dortmund put in an honest performance. The wingers Sancho and especially Adeyemi, whose work towards the back would put any defender to shame, played an excellent game. The team can rely on goalkeeper Kebel in key moments. Füllkrug is a dangerous player at the tip, his choice of space puts him in great positions to finish.

A vital Kobel clean sheet ⛔
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However, the poor efficiency of the final phase caused Dortmund to take only a one-goal lead to Paris. However, the same can be blamed on the PSG players. Emre Can, who lost the ball several times in a dangerous area, did not fare well. Dortmund let themselves get carried away at times and then had windows in the back line that might not go unused in the next duels.

PSG

Paris’ midfield worked, with Vitinha and Zaire-Emery in particular being very active. Both players, however, lacked a defensive midfielder at times at the back in place of Fabian Ruiz, who burned his chances in addition to worse movement. Combination wise, the French did well and managed to create a few chances, but their poor productivity betrayed them.

Even Paris got carried away at times, letting Dortmund into quick counter-attacks that Terzić’s team could have handled better. They also failed to exploit Mbappé’s full potential.

Source: Champions League