The first legs of the Champions League semi-finals this week were edgy affairs with all four combatants being more concerned with staying on their feet than delivering a knock-out punch themselves.
Manchester City and Real Madrid played out a near soporific goalless draw on Tuesday and on Wednesday, Atletico Madrid squeezed out a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich.
Since 2011, no team has progressed to the Champions League final having played the second leg of the semi at home, so both Bayern and Real must rewrite recent history without the benefit of an away goal to aid their cause.
“In the second half we created lots of chances but failed to score,” Bayern captain Philipp Lahm said. “We hadn’t expected to create many chances, but it boosts our confidence to have created so many chances in 45 minutes.”
Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer also lamented it was “a pity we didn’t earn our reward with an away goal”, and Bayern must now walk a tight-rope this Tuesday as they seek to avoid a third semi-final exit to Spanish opposition under coach Pep Guardiola.
“The result isn’t great,” Neuer admitted. “But we still have 90 minutes, and I hope we’ll make it with the support of our fans at the Allianz Arena.”
But breaking down the notoriously strong defence of Atletico, who have not conceded in the last five games, will prove difficult. And securing the two-goal win needed to progress looks a challenge—Atletico have not lost by such a margin since the middle of last season.
“This result gives us the chance of going to Munich with possibilities,” coach Diego Simeone said. “In the first half, we did what we set out to do, while in the second half, they were closer to what they sought at the start.”
Should Atletico progress, a rematch of the 2014 final they lost to neighbours Real could be in store in Milan on May 28, if the 10-time winners complete the job at home to Manchester City.
“We could have scored, but getting a goal doesn’t guarantee a place in the final,” coach Zinedine Zidane said, playing down the importance of his side not getting an away strike. “We’re halfway through the tie. We’ve got the next game at home and we know what we’re capable of doing at the Bernabeu.”
Real have a strong record of capitalizing on away goalless draws in Europe having progressed on seven occasions out of eight. Only Spartak Moscow, in the 1991 European Cup quarter-final, bucked the trend.
City are in their first-ever semi-final at this level and are not yet writing off their chances of continuing their run. “We know that if we score a goal, things will be tough for them,” Jesus Navas said. “We are an attacking team, and that’s what we’ll be aiming to do.”
And coach Manuel Pellegrini, who will leave the club in summer, was also in bullish mood. “I don’t think Real are favourites to progress,” he said.
“We have the same options. They have the advantage of playing away first—they tried to manage the pace of the game—but we play the same way away as at home and we came away from Sevilla and PSG with good results.”