At the end of a quite titanic Champions League tie, Bayern Munich and Harry Kane were still standing, and Real Madrid and Kylian Mbappe were out.
What a night. What a game. Amid the beautiful chaos, Munich advanced to face holders Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals, but the outcome was in doubt right up until the end of an ethralling contest.
Kane and Mbappe both scored again, as they did in the Bernabeu last week. Of course they scored. Kane’s goal was his 50th of a magnificent season, while Mbappe’s strike means that he has 40 and leads the England captain 15-12 at the top of the Champions League charts.
The margin between these two teams was even closer, but the game turned decisively in the 86th minute when substitute Eduardo Camavinga dribbled the ball away after committing a foul, having already been booked. It was soft but stupid.
Out came a second yellow card from Slovenia referee Slavko Vincic and Camavinga was on his way, just 24 minutes after arriving off the bench.
Even a team with a seemingly inexhaustible spirit in this competition couldn’t hold Bayern at bay with 10 men.
Having led three times on the night, Real were pegged back again as Luis Diaz scored the crucial goal that put Bayern ahead on aggregate before Michael Olise’s stunning effort sealed a momentous victory.
Amid the angry scenes at the final whistle, Arda Guler – whose two goals had breathed hope into his team – became the second player to be sent off.
‘With the (Camavinga) red card, everything was over,’ admitted Madrid boss Alvaro Arbeloa. ‘It’s unbelievable that a player was sent off for that action. We feel really angry that and upset.’
This felt like Arbeloa’s last chance of keeping his job beyond the end of this season. Madrid trail Barcelona by nine points in La Liga and were relying on a competition they have won an incredible 15 times.
Bayern, on the other hand, are riding high at the top of the Bundesliga with a record total of 105 goals.
The challenge for them in Europe was to topple a Real side who have had the upper hand over them across four knockout ties and 12 years.
They did it in the end, but PSG are likely to be more ruthless than Madrid in punishing Vincent Kompany’s side for not exerting more control over the game when they were ahead. Kompany will be sat in the stands for the first leg of the semi-final after he was booked.
Fears that missed chances in a 2-1 win at the Bernabeu might come back to haunt Bayern only deepened when goalkeeper Manuel Neuer – so good last week – gifted Madrid a lifeline after just 45 seconds with a horrible pass out from the back straight to Guler who curled the ball into an empty goal.
His opposite number Andriy Lunin, once again playing in place of the injured Thibaut Courtois, then collapsed into the back of his net for no apparent reason when Joshua Kimmich swung over a corner in the sixth minute, leaving Aleksandar Pavlovic with the simple task of nodding in.
Neuer didn’t cover himself in glory when Real regained the lead either. Guler found the top corner with a majestic left-footed free kick over the Bayern wall, but Neuer’s attempt to keep it out was far too casual.
Back came Bayern again. No-one expected the burst of pace that took Dayot Upamecano past Vinicius Junior or the defence-splitting pass that picked out Kane.
The England captain was coolness personified, controlling the ball with one touch and then waiting for two Real defenders to throw themselves in front it before sweeping home.
He became the first Englishman to score a half century of goals across Europe’s top five leagues since 1930.
‘It’s a reward for a lot of the hard work that we put in – not just me, but the team,’ said Kane, who broke off from his TV interview to shake the hand of his England teammate Jude Bellingham.
‘We’ve still got six weeks left in a Bayern shirt and we have a World Cup in the summer. I just want to stay physically fit and sharp to help the team.
‘I feel amazing now. We knew it was going to be difficult against Real Madrid in the Champions League. Obviously you have this special connection and you need to be at the highest level to knock them out.’
Mbappe wasn’t going to take it lying down and levelled on aggregate from Vinicius Junior’s clever lay-off before half-time.
But after Camavinga was sent off, Diaz cut inside from Jamal Musiala’s back-heel to score in the 89th minute with an effort that got a nick off Eder Militao, before Olise raced onto Kane’s assist to fire in off the post with the last kick of the game.
