Thomas Tuchel settled into his seat at the Bernabeu. If the England manager was looking forward to an absorbing Champions League quarter-final between the competition’s two greatest rivals, he wouldn’t leave disappointed.
Bayern Munich edged it, as we thought they might, and head back to Bavaria as favourites to break a hold that Real Madrid have had over them for 14 years.
This game has been played more than any other in Champions League history, and on the last four occasions the 15-time kings of Europe have got the better of Bayern.
The Germans have been Europe’s superpower this season, but would Madrid once again be their kryptonite and save their best for the biggest stage?
For a while, the simple answer was no. Bayern were the better team and made it count thanks to goals by Luis Diaz and Harry Kane. But Kylian Mbappe’s second-half strike means we can’t write off Real just yet.
Tuchel was in charge of Bayern when they suffered a heartbreaking semi-final loss to Madrid who scored two late goals at the Bernabeu in 2024, and there will be fears that history might repeat itself in the second leg at the Allianz next week.
Harry Kane scored for Bayern Munich as they beat Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash with Real Madrid
Madrid have come out on top in the last four clashes between these teams but Bayern are huge favourites now
Of course, Tuchel had other business. There are 70 days before England kick off their World Cup campaign against Croatia in Texas, and he was in Spain to run the rule over Kane, Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Kane didn’t disappoint his former Bayern boss having recovered from the ankle injury that ruled him out of the recent friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.
Having had a hand in the opening goal shortly before half-time, the England captain produced a clinical finish to put Vincent Kompany’s side in control of this tie just 22 seconds after half-time.
Aleksandar Pavlovic picked the pocket of Alvaro Carreras on halfway and fed the excellent Michael Olise. He cut inside and passed to Kane who sized up his opportunity on the edge of the box before curling a shot beyond Andriy Lunin for his 49th club goal of the season.
It’s an outstanding record and one that could yet see Kane emerge as a leading contender for the Ballon d’Or if Bayern fulfil their potential in the Champions League and he has a big World Cup as well.
Either way, it was a goal to delight Tuchel who is hardly spoilt for choice with options at centre forward should Kane go down with another injury in North America.
If this was a night for Kane to underline his importance to Tuchel, it was also one that saw the best and worst of Alexander-Arnold.
Having demonstrated once again why the manager cannot trust his defensive capabilities, the former Liverpool defender showed just how effective he can be going forward.
Thomas Tuchel was in attendance to see Trent Alexander-Arnold (pictured), who showed his best and worst
The England manager left the Madrid defender out of his latest international squad
Kylian Mbappe found the back of the net for Madrid in the second-half to ensure his side are in with a chance
He had held up quite well in the battle with his old Anfield teammate Diaz down Real’s right flank until the 41st minute when a lovely one-touch move saw Kane feed Serge Gnabry who played a lovely pass in behind Alexander-Arnold.
Alexander-Arnold sensed the danger too late and thrust out his left arm in vain as Diaz raced in behind to sweep home.
Then in the 74th minute, and with Madrid in desperate need of inspiration, he made an overlapping run onto Federico Valverde’s throughball and produced a sublime pass to pick out Mbappe who pulled a vital goal back.
Can Tuchel continue to ignore such a potent attacking threat, even off the bench?
Bellingham, meanwhile, was surprisingly named among the substitutes and didn’t get on until the hour mark, at a point in the game when Real were starting to fight back.
He arrived moments after Vinicius Jr had wasted a golden chance when he raced onto an awful header by Dayot Upamecano and fired into the side-netting with only Manuel Neuer to beat.
It was by no means the only chance Real had on the night, with Neuer showing his enduring importance to this team with a string of fine saves from Mbappe and Vinicius in particular.
From feeling they should have left the Bernabeu as clear winners, Bayern ended up grateful that they won this game at all.
Given their recent record against Madrid, they won’t be taking anything for granted.
