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As it happened: Bayern Munich v Atletico Madrid, Champions League

We were at the Allianz Arena to see if Pep Guardiola’s side could overturn the Spaniards’ slender advantage.
May 3rd 2016, 9:42 PM FULL-TIME! 
May 3rd 2016, 9:40 PM SUBSTITUTION! Savic (on) – Koke (off) And now the change can be made. Last minute here!
May 3rd 2016, 9:34 PM CLOSE! Corner for Bayern here as good work from Coman leads to the set-piece. When it’s whipped in, it lands perfectly for Alaba on the edge of the area. He shows great technique to get his foot over the ball and keep it down. It causes Oblak...

Well, what a game. An incredible first-leg and there was more of the same here tonight. No Champions League final during Pep Guardiola’s three-year reign in Munich but for Diego Simeone, it’s a second final in three years.

And, one might argue that his plan worked absolutely perfectly, bar the Lewandowski goal that made everything a little more nervy.

They defended deep in the first half, probably knowing they would concede but also having huge confidence in finding the Bayern net at some point. Their counter-attack didn’t even get going in the opening period but all they needed was one chance and Griezmann tucked it away so calmly.

Later, they could’ve really put it to bed but Torres missed from the spot.

Bayern were excellent tonight and Muller’s penalty miss proved crucial in the end. But they had a rush of blood to the head as Boateng pressed in the wrong zone and sold himself high up the pitch, leaving Bayern in a 2v2 situation.

From there, Griezmann did the damage and the one away goal was decisive.

Thanks for staying with our coverage. Plenty more reaction on the site tonight.

FULL-TIME! 

SUBSTITUTION! Savic (on) – Koke (off)

And now the change can be made. Last minute here!

Atleti are hanging by a thread as Bayern try to force a way through. They want to make a change and bring Savic on but the assistant isn’t ready in time and Simeone is absolutely furious, smacking him on the arm, as Bayern restart the play.

Oh, he’s back up and fine. And there will be five minutes added on here.

Oblak is down and receiving treatment.

Corner for Bayern here…after good work from Ribery.

CLOSE! Corner for Bayern here as good work from Coman leads to the set-piece. When it’s whipped in, it lands perfectly for Alaba on the edge of the area. He shows great technique to get his foot over the ball and keep it down. It causes Oblak some trouble but he gets down and pushes it away.

I’ve watched a lot of football games but this one feels like it only kicked off about ten minutes ago.

MISSED PENALTY! Incredible! Just incredible. Torres is taken down by Martinez and it’s a poor decision from the referee as it takes place outside the area. The striker dusts himself down and steps up to take the kick and conjures a carbon-copy of the Muller miss! It’s far too close to Neuer and he dives to his right to beat it away. Good grief.

SUBSTITUTION! Partey (on) – Griezmann (off)

We all know what’s going to happen over the next ten minutes or so. And Simeone knows too. He sacrifices an attacker and will look to keep what he has.

The Bayern bench go absolutely crazy as an Atelti player kicks the ball forward about ten yards after the Germans get a throw-in. Everything on a knife-edge here.

PENALTY! Atletico! 

It’s 2-2 now on aggregate as Vidal does superbly to nod a far-post header back across goal and there’s Lewandowski to finish from close range. Game on. As if it wasn’t already.

Half a chance for Torres as the cross is whipped to the far post. His body is turned in about four different directions so it’s difficult for him and he can only help it up and onto the roof of the net.

GOAL! Lewandowski!

SUBSTITUTION! Coman (on) – Douglas Costa (off)

A like-for-like change but a pretty obvious one for Bayern. Not too much natural creativity on their bench.

CLOSE! Lewandowski has a chance in the area after Vidal scoops a lovely ball into his path. But he can’t quite make the connection and Oblak rushes out and deals with it.

Koke has been immense. Moments ago, he played a cute nutmeg, cuts inside, holds off a couple of challenges and wins a free-kick.

Alonso runs onto the loose ball and fires the low left-footer. But Oblak watches it all the way and makes a comfortable save.

Oooh. A terrific touch from Muller in the area as he cushions a header down for Lewandowski but there’s a last-ditch challenge from an Atleti defender and they survive.

CLOSE! And this is Atleti now. In control, looking more comfortable and putting passes together. This is a real headache for Bayern now, having been done so easily on the counter. Juanfran pushes up and picks it up on the right side. He flashes a shot towards goal and doesn’t miss by much.

It did look like Griezmann was fractionally ahead of Alaba as he waited for Torres to slot through.

And just like that, the tie has been tipped firmly in Atletico’s favour. And it’s so simple in its execution. A ball forward to Griezmann on the halfway line, a little cushioned header back to Torres and then a superb through-ball from him to the Frenchman. With Neuer racing off his line, he keeps his cool and clots it inside the near post. BIG. BIG. MOMENT.

GOAL! Griezmann! 

This is Simeone being restrained by Frank Ribery in the first half after the Atleti coach and Pep Guardiola got involved in a heated exchange.

Greta start from Bayern here again. They force another corner after Vidal arrives right on cue to blast a shot from the edge of the box. They’re getting so many bodies forward – no let-up at all.

So, a reminder. Should the score stay the same, we’ll be heading to extra time. But if Atleti find a goal, it’s vital. It means that Bayern would need three tonight to win.

SUBSTITUTION! Carrasco (on) – Fernandez (off)

They’ve decided to change things, Atleti. Carrasco is a lovely attacker and will surely help them on the break.

SECOND HALF! 

24% possession for Atleti in that first-half, by the way. They really need to make more passes stick after the break and give Bayern something to worry about.

Well, how is that 45 minutes gone already? Incredible intensity. It’s been all Bayern and they really should have more to show for how superior they’ve been.

Ultimately, a deflected Xabi Alonso free-kick separates the sides while it remains to be seen whether the recalled Thomas Muller will live to regret his missed penalty.

It’s hard to know just what Atleti’s game-plan was. They effectively withdrew to the edge of their box from kick-off and have failed to get turned and build any sort of foothold further up the pitch. Torres and Griezmann have been anonymous while the tenacious Koke has been their busiest and best player.

They were much better after going behind but they’ve been misplacing passes and you can’t do that against Bayern, particularly when they’re playing a pretty basic system – push high and get Ribery and Costa on the ball as much as possible, with Muller making runs in behind. They’ve mixed it up too with the crosses into the area and the hope that a breaking ball will land nicely for a red shirt – it’s led to a couple of decent chances for Lahm and Ribery.

It’s up to Atleti after the break to come up with an antidote.

HALF-TIME! 

Well we haven’t exactly been short of incident, have we? And just as I type that, Simeone and Guardiola have to be separated on the touchline…by Frank Ribery! What drama here!

MISSED PENALTY! Oh, my word. How big a moment could that be? Muller steps up and looks to push it to the goalkeeper’s right side but Oblak gets down and makes a great save. Major let-off for Atleti.

PENALTY TO BAYERN! 

Well, that’s made things very interesting.

It was coming. Fernandez gives away the free-kick on the edge of the area, Alonso steps up and it’s not a very good strike. But it does take a deflection off Giminez and trickles past the wrong-footed Oblak.

BOOKING! Giminez has his arms all over Martinez and it’s a great decision. Silly, silly stuff from the defender.

GOAL! Alonso! 

CLOSE! Lahm is the latest to try his luck as the cross from the right grazes off a head and falls into his path. He’s a whisker away from thundering the shot to the top corner.

VERY CLOSE! This is very rope-a-dope by Atleti but you get the feeling they’ll concede soon. A corner isn’t properly cleared and it falls to Ribery on the edge of the area. He lines up the shot and it moves in the air. Oblak can only push it into the danger area where Lewandowski is lurking but the striker can’t convert.

VERY CLOSE! Magnificent ball from Boateng for Muller, as he beats the offside trap and gets away from Felipe Luis. But instead of trapping it himself, he seems to push it away from goal, as Lewandowski races towards it. The Polish striker looks to whip it low to the bottom corner but Oblak is off his line and makes a great save from close range. Big chance.

Muller tries to volley a deflected cross to the far corner. It’s pretty optimistic and so it proves as he gets it all wrong.

Another strike from distance from Vidal – plenty of fizz on it but Oblak hardly breaks a sweat as it sticks to his gloves.

Another effort from Gabi but Neuer takes it easily.

Vidal winds up a strike from distance and it’s a decent attempt from about 30 yards. Oblak watches it all the way, though, as it sails over his bar.

CLOSE! Atleti are very deep. They’re defending stoutly but it’s easy for Bayern to hint at openings. A wicked cross from the left by Diego Costa aims for Lewandowski at the far post and he can’t quite flick it to the bottom corner. There was some, ahem, pressure, from Diego Godin.

Bayern, inevitably, with a much-improved opening in comparison to what they were like in the first-leg. Passes are sticking a lot better and there’s more energy in the final third, making it harder for Atleti to get some momentum going. Another corner forced by Bayern here.

Free-kick for Atleti – rolled back to Gabi who lines up a strike from a very, very long way out. Clean strike but easy for Neuer to claim.

Good fight shown by Lewandowski as he forces Luis into conceding a corner. But it comes to nothing and Atleti can regroup.

Intense atmosphere at the Allianz Arena tonight. Neither side able to properly put their foot on the ball and control things so far though.

KICK-OFF! 

A quick recap on how both teams will line up:

Bayern XI: Neuer, Lahm, Martinez, Boateng, Alaba, Ribery, Costa, Alonso,  Vidal, Müller, Lewandowski.

Atletico XI: Oblak, Juanfran, Godin, Gimenez, Filipe Luis, Augusto, Gabi, Koke, Saul, Griezmann, Torres.

Wow.

But, to counter-act that, Atletico are immensely difficult to break down.

Here’s a stat for you. Muller and Lewandowski have scored 16 goals in the Champions League this season – one more than the entire Atletico team has managed.

By the way, Muller returned for Bayern against Monchengladbach last Saturday and scored in the 1-1 draw. Probably a little bit of pent-up frustration.

There you go, now.

So, the big news is that Thomas Muller is back for Bayern after being dropped for the first-leg. Franck Ribery is also given a start.

For Atleti, Diego Godin is back at the heart of the defence so Stefan Savic drops to the bench.

And here’s how Atleti will line up.

The teams are in. Let’s start with the home side.

Here’s what Pep has decided upon for tonight’s do-or-die clash.

Good evening everyone and welcome to our coverage of what promises to be a fantastic clash.

If the first-leg is anything to go by, we’re in for something special tonight.

Bayern are 1-0 down and there’s a bit of pressure on Pep. This is his swansong with the German side and, having been brought to the club to bring European success, this is his last chance.

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