Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid Live Score and Commentary, UEFA Champions League Live Semifinals 2017-18 first leg

PEEP! PEEP! PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

BAYERN MUNICH 1 -2 REAL MADRID

That, then, is very much that. An odd match that saw Bayern dominate almost for the entirety of the match, Ribery unplayable on the left, James up for a battle and a half, but Real Madrid are just the team in this competition. They walked through the first half, and managed the second one absolutely brilliantly.

Theirs to lose, this tie.

Thank you for your company! Anirudh Menon signing off...

Toodle-ooo!

93' Ribery rips around Vazquez for the 7895th time tonight, but his ball into the box is handled superbly by Navas

92' Magnificent from Vazquez as he bullies Ribery off the ball... but Modric dawdles on it and gets robbed. An incensed Ronaldo chases and harries but can't get the ball back off four Bayern players. HE WANTS A GOAL!

91' FOUR MINUTES ADDED! Madrid counter into space down the right, Benzema finding Ronaldo... but the ref spots that he's offisde and calls play back.

90' Widely respected inside-forward Marcelo dances inside Hummels' challenge, tries to weave away from Sule and gets bundled to the ground with contemptous ease. Bayern move forward immediately, Ribery lifts one into the far post where Tolisso can't keep it in.

89' Real Madrid are on the ropes here - Lewandowski almost slips in Muller, but Ramos sweeps up superbly. Madrid look to counter through the underrated dribbling of Kovacic - and Thiago smashes into him. Yellow for the Bayern no.6

88' OH, MY GOOD LORD LEWANDOWSKI!!! WHAT THE! Tolisso slips him in behind the Madrid box, Lewa times his run superbly, he dinks it over Navas... and away from the goal. What a miss that could prove to be. UFF!

86' The freekick is headed out by Varane - Kimmich tries to belt it first time from outside the box, but a mass of black shirts close down the shot superbly

85' Kovacic attempts a fancy dribble out of pressure but three Bayern players converge on him and quite literally bully the ball off him... Bayern move forward quickly and Ribery wins his 1,956th freekick off the night down that left flank

84' It's all a bit scrappy as Bayern look to inject a sense of urgency into their game. It's something they haven't had to do all season long - and it's showing.

83' Kovacic on for the rather shoddy Casemiro. Why risk a first career red card, eh? Which also means that Gareth Bale will remain on the bench. Out of favour? You bet

BY GOD MARCELO's CONTROL...

Marcelo <3 pic.twitter.com/L1kjg1p877
— amadí (@amadoit__) April 25, 2018

81' Isco was suffering from a shoulder problem apparenlty, and hence the early change - whatever it was, Asensio's certainly made Madrid a better team in this half.

80' James curls it in, Varane thumps it out. The homeside manage to recycle possession without giving away a goal

79' Ribery runs at Vazquez, who's the right back now, and wins another corner.

78' Thiago plays the ball out deep, once again - they are targetting this - where Sule wins the header easily, but the knockdown is hacked clear by Vazquez

77' Casemiro does what Casemiro does and bounces James Rodriguez off the ball as the Colombian looked to charge through the Madrid third... yellow for the Brazilian.

76' OH BENZEMA! The Frenchman races past Hummels with ludicrous ease - before belting a shot at goal that Ulreich does superbly to save. This is a fascinating contest.

75' Bayern take off their shield - they must. Javi Martinez off, Bayern Munich record signing Corentin Tolisso on!

74' Thiago and Modric get in a bit of a tangle, the Catalan-Brazilian walks away with the ball, but Kuiper sees that as an illegal win; and it's a freekick for Madrid - which is well headed away by Hummels. Varane's follow-up is too high, even for Ronaldo

73' Benzema looks to break - Casemiro up in company - but Rafinha does well to cut out the Frenchman's attempted ball.

72' OHOHOHOHOH! CONTROVERSY! OR IS IT? Luka Modric floats a delightful ball that Ronaldo controls with his bicep before smashing it past Ulreich. Great finish, illegal control. Kuiper's having none of it.

71' Marcelo intercepts a loose Kimmich ball - the poor lad's had a terrible second half - and feeds Ronaldo. The counter is on, but the Portuguese just can't find the right ball. Not his day. Yet.

70' The corner's played short, and it's rubbish.

69' Ribery rips down the right, cuts back, dances past Modric like he isn't there - and whips a shot that's deflected out for a corner. The Frenchman's been electric today.

67' OH MY LORD! WHAT IS THIS! From the corner, the ball bounces back into the six-yard box where Muller's hopelessly free... but he can't get a shot away with the goal gaping - as Lewandowski's in his way! What madness! Marcelo hacked the loose ball clear in the ensuing confusion

66' Muller takes the ball out of play - the linesman does not see it much to Zizou's chagrin - runs around Marcelo, and wins Bayern a corner. Interesting. By the by, Madrid take off Carvajal and bring on Benzema. Relief from the French nightmare for poor Dani.

64' Karim Benzema's getting ready. Zinedine Zidane can sense what Cristiano Ronaldo is... another counter or two. Definitely in the cards.

63' UFF! NAVAS AT IT AGAIN! Ribery gets the ball after a bit of pinball in the box from a deflected shot - he gets a shot away but Navas saves it well again.

62' Ribery attempts another one-two with Lewandowski; who gets bullied off the ball by a belligerent Ramos. The Pole goes to the ground and beseeches the ref for a foul; but Kuipers asks him to get on with it.

61' Bayern win the ball back almost immediately though and continue pressing Madrid further and further back. They better be accurate with their passing, though, Ronaldo's sniffing another counter here.

60' James feeds Ribery, Ribery wins a corner; as Carvajal finally manages to stand his ground and win a challenge. Kimmich takes the corner, and it's rubbish.

59' Frank Ribery, who's approaching unplayable levels right now, twists and turns half of the Madrid side down his flank, before cutting in and unleashing a belter of a shot that's brilliantly saved by Navas. The Costa Rican will need to be on his A game for the remainder of this game.

OH! OH! OH! OH! From the Munich corner, Madrid score. A counter attack as it should be done! After the ball gets knocked out of the box, Rafinha plays a horrible square pass straight to Asensio (think Vieira - Giggs) and Asensio plays a quick one-two with Vazquez...before running into the box and lashing it past a hapless Ulreich.

57' GOOOOALLLL! ASENSIOOOOO!

56 Real get a touch overenthusiastic with their commitment of personnel forward, and once Thiago intercepts a loose ball, Bayern counter with extreme prejudice. Muller picks out Lewandowski at the far post; Modric hacks it away for a corner....

54' Madrid work the ball around the Munich box - but Bayern hold their shape... Madrid, though, have the ball where they want it to remain. In the home side's half.

53' Ribery twists Carvajal this way and that, before slamming a 'cross' into row Z. The veteran Frenchman, so often written off, has shown he's not lost any of his vim and vigour

52' Yellow for Ribery as he goes in a touch late on Varane as the Madrid man looked to move forward and ease the sudden rise of pressure at his end. The Madrid and Bayern lot both crowd the ref, but Kuipers does well to calm things down and handle it forcefully

51' OW! HOW BAYERN HAVE STEPPED IT UP! Ribery dances past Vazquez and Carvajal with absurd ease once again and powers a delightful ball across the face of goal - ball that has 'THOMAS MULLER GOAL' written all over it - but Varane does exceptionally well to follow him and get a toe to it and divert it centimetres away from Muller's toe.

50' Bayern have got the ball back now, but Madrid are not giving them a moment's peace on it. Unflustered, Thiago unlocks the high press with a peach of a ball to Ribery - he excahnges a deft one-two with Lewandowski before lifting one into the box where Ramos does ever so well to head it away

48' Another spell of Madrid possession ends with Ronaldo miscuing a shot so horribly that it ends up as a throw-in

47' A loose pass from Modric is intercepted by Hummels and Bayern move forcefully forward through Lewandowski - who is played in immediately - but Ramos isn't about to let him by and he takes the ball off him.

46' Real Madrid are stroking the ball about with a confidence that was missing for the previous 47 minutes of this game...

PEEP! WE ARE OFF AGAIN!

SUBSTITUTION FOR MADRID - MARCIO ASENSIO ON FOR THE INVISIBLE ISCO

Sorry Akash Mishra - got to this mail a touch too late - he says: "So finally Zizou is done starting with Bale up top which might just help Madrid in two ways: 1) Vazquez will prove immense due to his insane work rate and 2) Bale has shown trends of taking his game to a next level in short bursts. So Asensio at LW and Bale at RW as substitutes would be just the tonic needed to destroy Bayern."

Vazquez is working but doing not much else. Asensio and Bale, though, could be interesting.

PEEP! PEEP! HALFTIME!

BAYERN MUNICH 1 - 1 REAL MADRID

Madrid have done just enough to prove to us that they all have a pulse, Bayern have created chance after chance... and yet the scoreline reflects none of that. Will the Bavarians rue their inability to convert dominance into tangible results... the next 45 could decide the Bavarians' future in the competition.

48' OH! MULLER! The corner's once again flicked onto the far post, but Muller's connection is not the best and it smacks into the side netting. On the outside. Another great chance