By Yaseen Jangikhan
Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich
The UEFA Champions League leg 1 of the semifinals kicked off with Real Madrid vs. Bayern. The 1st leg of this matchup was in Bayern, and they had the home-field advantage. Shots were traded back and forth in the first few minutes of the game, but no one prevailed to take the lead. However, that would change, in the 24-minute, Tony Kroos would deliver a beautiful pass to Vinicius Jr.and take the lead 1-0. Vini Jr. showed the fans he can deliver in big moments when he is needed the most. Real Madrid ended the 1st half with a 1-0 lead over Bayern.
As the second half started, both sides were going back and forth with each other. Bayern was taking more shots and it was just a matter of time before they scored their own goal. In the 53rd minute, Bayern would finally get their answer back against Madrid when Leroy Sane, from the right wing, dribbled through the Madrid defenders and shot a banger into the right side of the goal. The game was tied! Bayern had the momentum now, and they were playing with such intensity. Only 4 minutes later, the unthinkable happened: Bayern was given a penalty after Jamal Musiala was tripped inside the box. Harry Kane was taking it, and he delivered it into the left side of the goal, giving Bayern a 2-1 lead.
Bayern was holding through for the next 20+ minutes, and it looked like victory was coming their way. However, in the 81st minute when Madrid was inside Bayern’s box, ready to score, Rodrygo was tripped and Madrid was rewarded with a penalty. Vini Jr. was taking the penalty and he banged it into the right side, tying up the game at 2-2 and it ended. The 2nd leg will be played in Madrid at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, and it will surely be interesting.
Borussia Dortmund vs. PSG
The 1st leg of this matchup was in Dortmund. Dortmund with such a beautiful atmosphere in the stadium wanted to take victory. The fans, extremely passionate about their team, did not disappoint. The yellow wall is by far one of the greatest spots to be for a fútbol fan. The game started slow, but Dortmund were playing incredibly. Both sides had started to go back and forth with chance after chance, but both defenses were taking care of the issue permitted.
This would not last long though, in the 36th minute, Nico Schlotterbeck delivered a tremendous pass to Fullkrug and Fullkrug took it through with a perfect touch.He then shot it low past the keeper and put Dortmund up 1-0 the fans were going outrageous. Jadon Sancho was playing incredibly, he was creating chances, the most chances for his team to score and he had 12 successful dribbles in this game most of them by going through Nunu Mendes. The 1st half came to an end with Dortmund up 1-0.
The second half was even more thrilling as both sides were taking shots left and right at each other. In the 50th minute, Kylian Mbappe went in from the left side and took a shot that looked like it was going in. Then it hit the post PSG recovered the ball and Hakimi had it he took a shot and it hit the post yet again so close. Throughout the next 30 minutes, Sancho was creating chances for Dortmund and on one of the plays he dribbled past Nunu Mendes and delivered a beautiful corner, however, the shot was taken and did not make it in. The 1st leg of this matchup ended 1-0. Both sides created many chances, but Dortmund should have at least got 1 more goal just for leverage and to keep it safe. However, the outcome of the 2nd leg will be interesting when it takes place in Paris at PSG’s stadium.
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