UCL: At long last, Madrid roam into UCL final

Celebration time

Real Madrid blew Bayern Munich away to
reach the UEFA Champions League final with
a 4-0 second leg victory which secured a 5-0
aggregate success.
Sergio Ramos took advantage of some woeful
marking to head home twice from set pieces in
the opening 20 minutes before Cristiano
Ronaldo put the finishing touch to a
devastating counter-attack in the 34th minute
in a blistering opening half from the Spanish
giants.
Ronaldo added a fourth with a late free-kick
and the only downside for Carlo Ancelotti's
side, who will face either city rivals Atletico
Madrid or Chelsea and former boss Jose
Mourinho in the Lisbon final next month, was
the needless booking for midfielder Xabi
Alonso which rules him out of the showpiece.
Pep Guardiola's reigning European champions
had dominated possession in the first leg at
Santiago Bernabeu last week, only to leave
Spain with a 1-0 deficit after Karim Benzema
struck.
Any hopes they had of working their way back
into the tie were obliterated by a ruthless
display from Real, who are targeting a record
10th European crown, although the Bundesliga
champions were complicit in their own
downfall.
Only 50 seconds were on the clock when
Ronaldo fed Angel Di Maria, but his low shot
was comfortably saved by Manuel Neuer. With
eight minutes gone, the Bayern keeper had a
lucky escape when he raced from his area to
head clear only to find Gareth Bale, but the
Welshman fired his long-range effort well over
the bar.
The Allianz Arena was stunned in the 16th
minute when Luka Modric's corner saw
Ramos arrive unchallenged between David
Alaba and Dante to power a header home from
eight yards out.
Dante was booked soon after for a crunching
challenge on Ronaldo, before Bayern's testing
task became mission impossible when Di
Maria's free-kick into the box was flicked on
by and Ramos again arrived to head home,
having got the wrong side of Mario
Mandzukic.
Guardiola's stunned side looked to respond
and a swift turn and shot by Franck Ribery
after a pass from Philipp Lahm flew across the
face of the under-employed Iker Casillas' goal
and wide, while at the other end, Ronaldo went
one-on-one with Dante but dragged his effort
from outside the box past the post.
With Bayern pressing forward they left
themselves exposed at the back and Real were
ruthless on the counter. Benzema sent Bale
racing through and he squared for Ronaldo
who rolled first time beyond Neuer for his
15th Champions League goal of the season.
Ronaldo almost made Neuer pay for another
poor clearance only to see his shot bounce
over the par, before a distraught Alonso was
cautioned for sliding in on Bastian
Schweinsteiger, moments after Ramos - who
was walking the same disciplinary tightrope -
had escaped unpunished following a heavy
tackle on Lahm.
Guardiola withdrew striker Mandzukic and
brought on midfielder Javi Martinez at the
interval and Bayern managed to test Casillas
on several occasions in the second period,
although the tie was already beyond them.
Ramos had to stoop to deflect Alaba's shot
from inside the box over the bar and then
Arjen Robben beat Casillas' full-length dive
with a curling effort from range which flew
inches wide of the upright.
Ribery drove into the area and tested the
veteran goalkeeper again on the hour mark
and then the Spain international was well
placed to deal with a routine effort from
distance by Toni Kroos.
In the 72nd minute, Ribery was replaced by
Mario Gotze and Claudio Pizarro joined the
fray for Thomas Muller, while match-winner
Ramos made way soon after to guarantee his
place in the final as Ancelotti sent on Raphael
Varane.
Kroos lashed another long range effort over
the top, while Di Maria came close to picking
out Bale after Bayern's defence switched off
again, before Ronaldo set the seal on a
stunning success as his low free-kick in the
closing moments beat both the wall and
Neuer.