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| Bayern Strike Late to Beat Real Madrid By Clifford Coonan
MUNICH, Germany, April 2 – European champions Bayern Munich came from behind to beat Real Madrid 2-1 in a thrilling Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday, Claudio Pizarro striking the winner two minutes from time. The Peruvian's goal came after Bayern captain Stefan Effenberg, who had just missed a penalty, drew the home side level six minutes earlier.
Real, playing Raul alone up front, utterly dominated the first half, imposing a steady pace on the game and producing flashes of brilliance from French international Zinedine Zidane. But Bayern staged a dazzling recovery in the second half to overturn the lead earned by Cameroon midfielder Geremi, which Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said was a true sign of his team's character. Hitzfeld, well aware that Bayern knocked out Real Madrid in the Champions League with two victories in the semifinals on their way to the title last season, said the display of character augured well for the second leg. "We are more optimistic after this game," he said. "My team showed great morale and self-belief. The victory was well-deserved because of the second half. We had more of the game in the second half and applied more pressure." "Real made things tight for us in the first half, we couldn't find any room and they showed some great individual skills." Hitzfeld singled out playmaker Effenberg for particular praise for the way he came back after missing the penalty. "Effenberg never gives up, even if things are going against him. His goal was important not just for him but for the whole team," Hitzfeld said. The result means that Bayern are unbeaten at home in the Champions League since December 1997. MADRID DOMINATION In the first half, Zidane's pin-point passing and tricky manoeuvring gave Bayern all kinds of problems and he went close with a snapshot from 20 metres. The goal came after 12 minutes when Geremi, who had earlier put a header wide, easily turned Bayern striker Paulo Sergio, forced to track back to defend, and sent a low shot from 18 metres past Oliver Kahn, who will be disappointed not to have stopped it. Argentine Santiago Solari controlled the wing with a swagger which consistently gave the Bayern defence problems, particularly French defender Willy Sagnol. Bayern, whose chances of retaining their German crown were dented by Saturday's 0-0 draw at Hamburg SV, opened the second half looking a different team. Elber turned well in the 51st minute to force Cesar down to meet his volley and also hit the bar with a header. Hitzfeld brought on Bosnian Hasan Salihamidzic in place of Sagnol and the move produced immediate results. He went down in the box to win Bayern a penalty which Effenberg shot tamely enabling Cesar to save. But he made amends when he scored from close range in the 82nd minute and Pizarro completed the comeback when he seized on a loose ball to shoot home from the edge of the box. It was Bayern's sixth win in seven games against Real, prompting Hitzfeld to say: "I don't understand all this talk about Real Madrid being the best team in the world—we always beat them." Real coach Vicente del Bosque was annoyed not to have broken the run, particularly after his side's first-half dominance. "I think the result keeps the tie wide open and we are going to fight with all our strength to turn it around because we are very hurt by this result," he said. "The game had gone as we expected, but just when it looked as though we had them under control and they appeared to have used up their energies they came back with some direct football that won them the game." "We have to recover from this as quickly as possible and win next Wednesday to make sure we get through to the semis. Nobody likes losing, but it still depends on us and we have our chance at the Bernabeu. "What I want is to play the final and I am not bothered if we lose 20 times at this stadium," he said in reference to Real's record of seven defeat in seven matches at Munich's Olympic stadium.
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Soccer
