Real Madrid humble Guardiola as Ronaldo runs riot in Munich
Madrid book place in Champions League final with rampant win to bring down their old nemesis
Bayern Munich 0 Real Madrid 4 [Real win 5-0 on aggregate]. Pep Guardiola's hold over Real Madrid was shattered at the Allianz Arena as another masterclass from Cristiano Ronaldo blew Bayern Munich away and took Real Madrid into their first Champions League final in 12 years.
As manager of Barcelona Guardiola had the measure of Los Blancos, overseeing nine wins and just one regular-time loss in 15 El Clasico matches. But it is a different story now he is in charge of Bayern, and Madrid exacted a terrible revenge on the man who used to be their nemesis on a humiliating night for the reigning European champions.
Bayern simply had no answer to the brilliance of Ronaldo as the Portuguese forward scored twice to set a new record for goals in a single Champions League campaign.
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Ronaldo's rampage would probably not have been possible had it not been for the early damage done by a defender. Bayern were 1-0 down after the first leg and tore into Madrid from the off. But the tactic backfired as Sergio Ramos scored twice in the opening 20 minutes, heading home set-pieces, to stun the Bayern crowd and leave them 3-0 down on aggregate and chasing the game.
That meant Madrid were able to counter attack almost at will and Ronaldo made it 3-0 just after the half hour mark, after being set up by Gareth Bale. It was his 15th goal of the competition this season, taking him beyond the previous record of 14 jointly held by Lionel Messi (Barcelona, 2011-12), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United, 2002-03) and Jose Altafini (1962-63, AC Milan).
But Ronaldo wasn't finished with Bayern and Guardiola just yet, and a minute from time he fired home a cheeky free kick, slipped under the wall, for his 16th European goal of the season and the 67th of his Champions League career. That is the same number as his great rival Messi and just four short of the record held by former Real striker Raul.
Ronaldo will have the chance to add to his tally on 24 May in Lisbon when Real play the winners of tonight's second semi-final between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid, the first leg of which ended scoreless in Spain last week.
Whoever wins tonight's encounter will go to Portugal as rank outsiders against a Real side now on course to lift their tenth European Cup, but their first since beating Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 in the 2002 final.
The result was a particular thrill for Bale, who joined Real from Tottenham last summer in an £86m fee. The Welshman created Ronaldo's first goal and said later the victory vindicated his decision to leave the Premier League. "This is why I wanted to come to the biggest club in the world, to win trophies in massive games," he declared, "We still haven't won it yet, we have a difficult game in the final whoever it may be, but I'm looking forward to it."
Real coach Carlo Ancelotti was similarly ebullient, singling out Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema for the way they "sacrificed themselves for the team" tonight.
Asked who would prefer to meet in the final, Ancelotti replied: "I don't know who I would prefer to face... Chelsea have a lot of experience while Atletico are really eager. The most important thing from our perspective is that we are going to be there."
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