Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid: 6 Lessons Learned from CL Semifinal 1st Leg

In the aftermath of every big Champions League game, there are always lessons to be learned.

In this "lessons to be learned slideshow" I will use numbers and stats to back up my claims. I also wrote predictions for this game, which I'll proceed to evaluate in the coming slides. Lastly, I promise to respond to every single question/comment I receive here.

Convinced to read? I thought so. Now that I have you on board, here are the six lessons we learned from the first leg of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich's Champions League semifinal.

I Was Right on the Scoreline and Madrid's Defense

Yes, I'll start off by tooting my own horn. I was right, in more ways than one.

As expected, Real Madrid lost two goals to one versus Bayern Munich. And why did they lose? Because of their defense.

Sergio Ramos had a poor, poor game. Real Madrid's most renowned defender failed to lead by example, conceding scoring chances on at least four separate occasions to Mario Gomez throughout the game.

He was also at fault when he allowed the ball to fall to Franck Ribery off a Bayern Munich corner in the first half, which presented the Frenchman with the perfect opportunity to lash the ball home for Bayern's first goal.

But Ramos was not Real's Madrid's only under-performing defender.

Fabio Coentrao also had a shocker of a contest. He was caught out of position several times, forcing Ramos to stretch himself and cover for Coentrao when he was already struggling with his own defensive duties.

Phillipp Lahm was able to get the better of him throughout the game, and finally made his advantage pay by providing the cross to Gomez for the German side's winning goal.

Pepe and Arbeloa didn't exactly control the game either, but Coentrao and Ramos were by far the two biggest culprits for Real Madrid's failure in this game. 

They'll both almost surely be getting a talking to from Jose Mourinho after this game, and I'd be really surprised to see Coentrao start the second leg coming off such an error-prone performance.

But Madrid's Offense Was Also Lacking

They say that sometimes the best defense is a good offense. But apparently, Jose Mourinho doesn't entirely subscribe to this theory.

The numbers for this game paint the picture of a close game. Real Madrid just barely edged possession 51 percent to 49 percent, while Bayern had one more shot on target (four to three).

And indeed, it was a very close game, one which Real Madrid only lost at the very end. But what the numbers don't show is that the second goal by the Bundesliga giants had been a long time coming, and that the loss was ultimately the fault of Real Madrid's tactics.

When Los Blancos orchestrated a beautiful counter-attack in the 53rd minute to draw level, many would argue that the game was theirs for the taking.

They held a much greater edge in possession at the time, and signs indicated that likes of Karim Benzema, Mesut Ozil and Cristiano Ronaldo were ready to break out of the shells they'd been in for much of the game.

But what did Mourinho do? Instead of letting Madrid build on their momentum—or bring on another striker or playmaker like Gonzalo Higuain or Kaka—he took off his squad's central playmaker, Mesut Ozil, for another left-sided full-back, Marcelo.

The rest of Mourinho's substitutions were ones that did not add offense to the team. Angel Di Maria was rightly substituted after a weak performance on offense, but his replacement, Esteban Granero, was not the player any Real Madrid fan wanted to see.

As for Higuain, his introduction came far too late in the game, and the man he replaced was Karim Benzema. Once again, no offense added.

I don't want to criticize Mourinho's decisions too much, since his trophy cabinet is obviously much bigger than mine (I think I may have a winner's medal from junior varsity high school soccer), but he'll certainly need to show more adventure and offensive ambition in the second leg if he and Real Madrid want to overcome their 2-1 deficit.

Mario Gomez Is a Fighter

One prediction I got wrong, at least partially, was my prediction on Mario Gomez.

In the early going, and throughout the game really, Gomez definitely fulfilled my prediction for him. He wasted numerous chances, even as Sergio Ramos kept serving them up on a platter.

But one thing he never did was give up. He never put his head down and actively worked to get open and in position to score. Even after missing a couple sitters, Gomez only pushed forward with the hope of converting the next goal-scoring opportunity.

The look on Gomez 's face after scoring in the 90th minute was a great one to see, even for someone like me, an outspoken Real Madrid fan who was secretly hoping to see his prediction of a 2-1 loss for Los Blancos proven untrue.

There was nothing special about Gomez's goal. It was a simple conversion off a cross that Philipp Lahm excellently got off after bamboozling Fabio Coentrao for the umpteenth time in the game.

The look and reaction from Gomez seemed to say it all. Almost like, "Even if I'm having a bad game, I won't let my spirit and determination drop. I've given it my all today, and thankfully I've been rewarded."

He'd missed several good chances, been harassed by Pepe and Ramos throughout the game, and had a seemingly clear penalty appeal denied in the 87th minute. But he survived all that to score a goal Bayern desperately needed to have hope of progressing to the Champions League final.

Bravo, Gomez. Bravo.

Ribery Won the Ronaldo vs. Ribery Battle...This Time

I said that the Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Ribery matchup would the biggest matchup to follow over the two legs of these semis, and I think the most recent contest proved that right.

Ronaldo cut a largely frustrated figure throughout this game, but when he was able to smartly and unselfishly track down the ball from Karim Benzema's cross and cut it back to Mesut Ozil, Real Madrid scored.

As for Ribery, he capitalized on one of the Spanish side's many defensive errors to give his squad the opening goal. Ribery had the most success in unlocking Real Madrid's defense, keeping the pressure up when other attackers, like Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben, weren't performing.

The question now is, will Ronaldo be able to turn the tide against Ribery next game, or will Ribery keep up the momentum he's built up in recent UCL action and outdo the Portuguese winger?

If Ronaldo can control play at a much higher level in the second leg, Real Madrid should have enough in the tank to overcome the 2-1 deficit.

But if Ribery continues to perform at his current pace, Mourinho's side may as well pack their bags, because they won't be playing in the Champions League final if the Frenchman is afforded the same space and opportunities he was afforded in Bayern's opening victory.

Time to Switch Back to Ronaldo-Higuain-Benzema?

Angel Di Maria has found playing time hard to come by in recent games. He got the start against Atletico Madrid last Wednesday, but that was his only start in the five games prior to this one.

And we may have seen why that has been the case.

Di Maria had a fantastic start to this season, recording four goals and 14 assists in his first 15 La Liga games. He was arguably on track to be Real Madrid's player of the season.

But a midseason injury halted the excellent momentum he'd built up, and he's not recaptured that form ever since. He hasn't played badly, per se, but in big games versus Atletico, Valencia and now Bayern Munich, he's not been able to exert his influence in the matchups.

Which raises the question, should Di Maria start ahead of Gonzalo Higuain?

A couple weeks or so back, I wrote about how successful the Benzema-Higuain-Ronaldo combination had been for Los Blancos.

Many agreed that it was the triumvirate of the future for Madrid, while others were more cautious to the idea of Benzema playing effectively as a right winger, despite the success he'd experienced on numerous occasions in the position.

But once Real Madrid were held scoreless at home against Valencia, all support dropped for Real Madrid's new triumvirate. Mourinho, too, was quick to drop the idea with Barca quickly closing in on Madrid's spot atop La Liga standings.

But no attack is ever perfect all the time. Barcelona's offense has stumbled on numerous occasions this season, and Madrid fans would be foolish to expect Mourinho's offense, as good as it is, to pierce every single defense in world football on every single occasion.

For this reason, I would posit that the Benzema-Higuain-Ronaldo combination is worth another shot. Di Maria was very unconvincing in Monday's action against Bayern Munich, and Mourinho surely cannot risk getting another unconvincing performance from the Argentinian in the second leg.

Forget Pepe...Marcelo Seriously Needs Counseling

I'll close by saying that the incident I found most annoying in this game was Marcelo's late-game tackle on Thomas Mueller.

It was classic Marcelo. With Real Madrid losing, the only thing left for Marcelo to do was make an idiot of himself.

He did this by disgracefully tackling Mueller from behind, even though the Bayern star was in no position to seriously threaten Madrid's defense in any way. In fact, he was practically jogging when Marcelo cruelly hacked him down. 

The tackle could've very easily injured Mueller, but thankfully, he seemed to get up and walk without any difficulty.

Nevertheless, this is the second or third time the Brazilian has exhibited this kind of childish, immature and disrespectful behavior.

I don't know if Mourinho addressed the issue with Marcelo after his tackle on Cesc Fabregas nearly sparked a brawl back in the August Supercopa, but it's about time he took action against Marcelo. It reflects badly not only on the player, but the entire team.

Marcelo needs to be dropped for these kinds of incidents, and I hope UEFA gives him a healthy ban as well of at least two or three games. These kinds of tackles are inexcusable in today's football.