Ronaldo and Real Madrid – with help from officials – overcome a spirited Bayern Munich effort to advance

The result looks emphatic in black and white, but for large swathes of this quarter-final second leg in a packed Bernabéu, the Bavarians were the better side.

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring against Bayern Munich during the Champions League quarter-finals second leg at Santiago Bernabeu's stadium in Madrid, Spain on April 18, 2017. Juanjo Martin / EPAShow less

Real Madrid 4 Bayern Munich 2 (Madrid win 6-3 on aggregate) | In pictures

The scoreline does not do the match justice.

Of a game fit to be the final of Europe’s top club competition, the record books will read Real Madrid 4 Bayern Munich 2, with a 6-3 aggregate win to the current European and world champions.

The result looks emphatic in black and white, but for large swathes of this Uefa Champions League quarter-final second leg in a packed Bernabéu, the Bavarians were the better side. Indeed until Arturo Vidal was wrongly sent off in the 84th minute by referee Viktor Kassai, they’d pushed themselves into the better position in the tie.

Only six teams have come back after losing the first leg of a knockout stage game at home in 62 years of European competition, yet with seven minutes to play, Bayern were leading 2-1 and worthy of their lead.

Arjen Robben had conjured a masterful performance that belied his 33 years, central defenders Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng had been imperious in blunting Madrid’s attack. The declining force of captain Philipp Lahm and his opposite full-back David Alaba couldn’t be contained by Luka Modric and Toni Kroos in a gripping first half where both sides attacked and created chances. Madrid had won in Munich and had won 10 and drawn two of their previous home games, but Carlo Ancelotti’s side didn’t fear their reputation.

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Their performance surprised even their own fans, 3,000 of whom had travelled to fill the highest tiers of the Europe’s most dramatic arena.

Before the match, diehard Bayern fans Michael and Johannes waited in the sun for the turnstiles to open. As they explained how they “were 90 per cent certain that we would go through before the first leg, now we’re only 10 per cent,” 1,000 noisy Bayern ultras were escorted into the stadium by Spanish police.

They had paid €101 (Dh397.70) face value for their tickets. Michael’s season ticket “10 metres behind the goals” at Munich costs €8 per game.”

“We didn’t have Lewandowski, our best player, in the first leg,” said Johannes. “So Manuel Neuer was our best player that night.”

Striker Robert Lewandowski, who scored five for Dortmund against Madrid over two games in 2012-13, was back for the second leg, but the odds were heavily against Bayern.

The fans were relying on “our three best players, Robben, Vidal and Lewandowski”, but the mood was very different in South Stand, where Madrid’s noisiest fans filled their section.

“Madrid! Madrid! Nothing more,” they yelled before the teams came out and the sun set over the Spanish capital. “Hala Madrid!”

Real were aiming to be the first club to reach a seventh consecutive Champions League semi-final and to become the first team in the Champions League era to retain the trophy, yet Bayern started the better side and found space in their half in the first 20 minutes before the home team worked through their gears and finished an action-packed first half the stronger.

Lewandowski scored the first, a 52nd minute penalty which came two minutes after Madrid’s Marcelo had cleared a chip from Arjen Robben off the line. Awarded after Robben was brought down by Casemiro, Lewandowski stood poised as the stadium was enveloped in a piercing shrill of whistles from the home crowd.

Madrid’s dancing goalkeeper Keylor Navas also tried to distract Bayern’s number nine, but the striker was smarter and had the confidence to pause in his run up and commit the Costa Rican to a dive as he drilled the spot kick just left of the goal’s centre.

Bayern were ascendant. Vidal was so furious at missing a chance after being set up by Robben in the 53rd minute that he was still cursing a minute later.

Madrid were a constant danger. Dani Carvajal’s 73rd minute run took him from one end of the pitch to the other, but he took too many touches when it mattered. Xabi Alonso was substituted to an ovation in the 75th minute by fans of the club he served so well — though they were silenced when his replacement was Thomas Muller.

And then Madrid scored. Ronaldo, who’d not been one of the game’s star players, steered a 76th minute header in from a Casemiro cross. The celebrations lasted 36 seconds as Sergio Ramos put the ball into his own net after 77 minutes. The utterly enthralling, relentless tie was all square, 2-2 on aggregate, when Vidal was sent off after winning the ball from Marco Asensio. A second yellow card was produced and Vidal’s strenuous efforts were in vain. Advantage Madrid, as the game moved into extra-time.

Bayern could have sat back and aimed for penalties. Instead, they attacked and went for a win. It was thrilling, magical football from two of the game’s heavyweights, but Madrid were the coil ready to spring, with more energy in reserve and Ronaldo ready to sting. The Portuguese came into his own in extra time, a 96th minute shot followed up by a 105th minute goal after Ramos set him up to chest down the ball and then side foot past Neuer. That he was offside did not matter to the ecstatic home fans, but it should have mattered to the referee.

Madrid, who came back from a goal down in the first leg, were going through and despite Ronaldo again looking offside, he made it three in the 110th minute after Marcelo had made a run to set him up for his 100th Champions League goal. The reigning champions, who also knocked Bayern out at the semi-final stage in 2014, were having fun and making their extra man count. Substitute Asensio gave Madrid their fourth in the 112th minute after dribbling past three exhausted defenders and shooting into the far corner.

It was harsh on Bayern, who’ll be furious at officials. Madrid march on and they could meet neighbours Atletico in the semi, or again in the final for the third time in four years in this golden age for Spanish club football.

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