Vinicius puts Madrid in pole position on road to Wembley

MUNICH, Germany — Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior scored a double, including an 83rd-minute equalizing penalty, to snatch a 2-2 draw away at Bayern Munich on Tuesday, putting the Spanish side in the driving seat for the return leg of the Champions League semifinal.

Vinicius gave Real the lead after 24 minutes, but Bayern scored twice in four second-half minutes to wrest back control.

However, Kim Min-jae fouled Rodrygo in the box with eight minutes remaining and Vinicius stepped up, amid a chorus of boos and whistles, to blast home the leveler.

"In this competition it's important not to lose, and we're here because we haven't lost yet," said Vinicius. "I'm very happy that I was able score two goals, and now we need to have a magical night at home," he added.

The draw makes Madrid the favorite to progress from next week's return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, but Bayern, which dominated large parts of the match, will still hope it has enough in the tank to make it to the final at Wembley in June.

"I think it's a good result," said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, who led Bayern to the Bundesliga title in 2017. "It gives us faith and confidence for the second leg, but nothing has been decided yet.

"Bayern have high quality. They have players like Musiala or Sane who can hurt us."

Kane's goal, another penalty, was the England forward's 43rd in 43 games for Bayern this season.

"It felt like the goals were scored when the other team was better,"Kroos said. "We're pretty sure that we'll advance at home."

Bayern had appealed to fans to wear red to the game, and the visitors walked into a crimson cauldron as they were greeted by deafening whistles from a majority of the 75,000 fans in the stadium.

"It feels a bit strange," said Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel.

"But, the situation is very clear. Win in Madrid, then we're off to Wembley. The winner takes it all.

"We will be ready and we accept the challenge. We will go to Madrid with self-confidence. We have to be brave."

The winner of the two-leg semifinal will play either Borussia Dortmund or Paris Saint-Germain in the final in London on June 1.

"Real Madrid does this to teams, so we should not be too disappointed," Bayern coach Tuchel said. "I think we will be able to create chances at the Bernabeu. This is one of the most difficult places to win, yes, but it's a challenge. That's the beauty of it."

Familiar opponents

Before the match, the Bayern fans unveiled a giant banner depicting Franz Beckenbauer, which spanned from the grass to the rafters. It was a fitting tribute on a night featuring the most-played fixture in European Cup history.

Famed for its composure on the competition's big nights, 14-time winner Real struggled early on as Bayern dominated possession, spurred on by a ferocious home crowd.

Sane had a chance after just 40 seconds and another minutes later, while Kane chipped a shot from halfway just over the bar as the visitors struggled to cope.

Madrid's success in the competition this season, including in its quarterfinal win over Manchester City, has been built on absorbing pressure before striking.

Something the visiting side repeated for the opening goal, breaking Bayern's dominance in ruthlessly simple fashion, while showing the host how easy scoring goals can be.

Toni Kroos collected the ball from a corner and drilled a low, defense-splitting pass toward the Bayern goal, which found Vinicius galloping in acres of space on the edge of the area.

Without a Bayern defender in sight, Vinicius calmly slotted the opener past a helpless Manuel Neuer, changing the complexion of the match completely.

Bayern, which has six European Cups of its own, was not awed by Los Blancos, and continued to push, but just could not break through; its best chance of an equalizer in the half came through a free kick, with Kane finding a huge gap in the wall but blasting wide.

With Real seemingly in cruise control, Bayern grabbed hold of the match early in the second-half, scoring twice in four minutes.

Eric Dier found Sane down the right flank. The German winger, who missed several chances in the first half, dribbled into the box before unleashing an unstoppable shot. It was his first goal for Bayern in any competition since October.

Bayern's go-ahead goal came from a Kane spot-kick shortly afterward.

"We have to continue with cool heads, rest until next week, and we will give everything to qualify for London," Vinicius said.