Real Madrid reached their third consecutive Champions League final after beating off a strong Bayern Munich side in Tuesday’s semis.
Jupp Heynckes‘ men lost 4-3 on aggregate but put up a fantastic fight and came close to going through themselves.
Ulreich‘s mistake cost Bayern dearly
Bayern’s man between the sticks, Sven Ulreich, had been in fine form since replacing Manuel Neuer, but the German international made a high-profile error that cost Bayern dearly.
Ulreich failed to clear a short back-pass and handed Karim Benzema with an open goal which the French striker couldn’t miss.
His goal put Real 2-1 up on the night and Bayern could only manage an equaliser at the Bernabeu which wasn’t enough to see them reach the final.
Real Madrid on the verge of making history
Many have suggested Real Madrid have been lucky to make it this far in the Champions League given how many scares and close calls they’ve encountered, but they have deserved to reach another final.
Unlike others sides, Real have had to it the hard way, beating French, Italian and German champions en route to the final and are favourites to win their third European title in a row in Kyiv.
Karim Benzema bails out Madrid again
The French striker has not had the best of seasons under Zinedine Zidane, but he repaid his manager’s faith with two goals against Bayern.
The decision to play Benzema over Gareth Bale wouldn’t have not gone down well, but the centre-forward proved his critics wrong, pouncing on Bayern’s poor defending for the opener and Ulreich’s howler for the second.