Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid: 5 Things We Learned in the First Leg

Mario Gomez scored the 90th minute winner off a Philipp Lahm cross against Real Madrid.

The goal gives Bayern Munich a one-goal advantage heading into the second leg on the 25th, but Madrid was able to get a huge away goal.

A single lapse on Bayern's defensive end allowed a wonderful counterattack by Real to draw level after a goal from Mezut Ozil.

What impact that goal has on the aggregate score is yet to be seen. The goals are not the only factors at play here.

Two penalty claims will have Bayern fans wanting more—as will not having any Real Madrid players sent off by referee Howard Webb.

Going into Madrid, it is unclear which team has the advantage at this point.

Here are 5 points to take away from the first leg of the Champions League semifinals between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

Heynckes Won the Tactical Battle

Round 1 of the managerial battle went to Bayern Munich as Jupp Heynckes drew up the perfect game plan to attack Real Madrid.

With Jose Mourinho once again fielding Sergio Ramos in the middle and Fabio Coentrao on the left, Bayern tested Real's fullbacks all night.

Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben kept the attack wide and movement from teammates into the box was very quick once the pair found space.

When the ball was not put in, the wide men—especially Robben—used the space created by his teammates' quick run to slide into the middle of the pitch for a shot.

Late in the second half, Mourinho tried to stop this leak by putting Granero on for extra defensive help. He also had the defense push more bodies to the edge of the box.

This defensive adjustent turned out to be costly in the end. After Philipp Lahm embarrassed Fabio Coentrao with a simple fake, he crossed the ball in for Mario Gomez to score the winner.

On that cross, Pepe failed to put the ball out of play and Casillas clearly thought the Portuguese defender should have moved on the ball instead of Robben.

Many will also question Jose's decision to put Granero on instead of Kaka.

With Madrid's Counter Attack, One Mistake Can Change Everything

Heynckes may have had the perfect game plan, but execution was short of perfection and Real Madrid capitalized on a single lapse by the Bavarians.

After catching the Germans losing the ball too far up the pitch, Real executed a brilliant counter that saw Ronaldo left alone with Manuel Neuer.

Ronaldo missed the shot, but Ozil got the rebound and then played it out to Benzema. The Frenchman then pulled the ball wide and put in a cross for Ronaldo to lay back off to Ozil for an easy tap-in.

This is how to counter attack.

That goal changed the entire momentum of the game and it was not until Mourinho decided to go a bit defensive that Bayern were able to find a way through.

Knowing this, whichever team is closer to perfection in Spain will make it to the final.

Not Short on Controversy

There is almost always some level of controversy in the semifinals of the Champions League and this match was no different. Two non-called penalties will be big points of contention in the coming weeks.

In the first half, Franck Ribery went down in the box after a very slight tug of his jersey from Sergio Ramos. Most will agree that Ribery oversold the foul and took a dive and could have received a yellow card.

But that does not mean there was not a foul worthy of a penalty before that. Ramos may have hit Ribery's leg just before that.

When Ribery opened scoring, it appeared that Luiz Gustavo was offside when Ribery shot. He did not appear to touch the ball, but Iker Casillas claimed his view was obstructed.

Later, just minutes from time, Mario Gomez had the ball in the box, but had the ball kicked away before the German striker had his legs taken out by Fabio Coentrao.

Ramos got the ball, but Fabio got only Gomez. Click here to see the video of that play. Neither penalty was not given and the final score make some forget about the calls for now.

But Real Madrid moving on after the second leg could see these two decisions being revisited soon.

Webb Wrong Again?

Unfortunately, Howard Webb will yet again be one of the most discussed figures after this match.

Given the reputations of many of these players as divers and hot heads, Webb was given a very tough challenge and everyone will have their opinions about Webb's match.

From start to finish, there were countless tough calls for the Englishmen.

In addition to the two penalties that were not called, Webb was repeatedly given a chance to send players off the pitch.

In fact, some may argue that Fabio, Sergio Ramos, and especially Marcelo were fortunate not to have seen red.

Fabio received a few warnings for rash challenges before finally seeing a yellow card in the 56th minute. His foul on Mario Gomez in the box could have had him sent off.

Later, Sergio Ramos came in late to the back of Thomas Müller and would have seen a straight red card in other matches.

The third moment was the biggest. Just minutes from the final whistles and moments after Mario Gomez scored the winner, Marcelo came in with another late challenge to the back of Müller.

Marcelo's studs were seen and he was nowhere near the ball. It was a silly attempt that could have easily seen him sent off.

Some may argue that the right call was made since Marcelo's studs were not aimed at Müller, but I can understand why others think Real should be without the Brazilian in the second leg.

Neither side was favored and calls went against both teams, but Bayern has the bigger complaints for sure.

The Second Leg Is Wide Open

Bayern Munich will have the one-goal advantage heading into Madrid next week, but this tie can still go either way.

Real Madrid's attack was ineffective all night and they barely had an answer for Ribery or Robben. Still, playing in front of the home crowd at the Bernabeu gives them a huge advantage.

Domestic competition will be a huge factor. Bayern have now almost certainly lost the league to Borrussia Dormtund after losing to them and them dropping more points last weekend.

While that is regrettable, it gives the Germans the advantage of being able to rest some of its stars in the Bundesliga.

Quite contrarily, Real Madrid will have to put their best foot forward in La Liga when they travel to Camp Nou in a highly anticipated match against Barcelona.

The chances that Jose Mourinho fails to field most of his first-choice players is almost nonexistent since Real can essentially seal the league up with a victory.

That should give Bayern a slight advantage, but playing away to a Madrid side that got a vital away goal should level the playing field a bit.