UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE/Real Madrid 2 Bayern Munich 0 (Real Madrid win 3-2 on aggregate): Spanish internationals Ivan Helguera and Jose Maria Gutierrez scored vital goals for Real Madrid as they beat defending champions Bayern Munich 2-0 in a tense second-leg quarter-final clash last night.
Real's 3-2 aggregate win, after a week in which a war of words between the teams added spice to the crunch tie, means Real now progress to an all-Spanish semi-final clash in two weeks time against bitter domestic rivals Barcelona.
Last week, Real went down 2-1 at Bayern, a win which was followed by some of the Bavarian club's players pouring scorn on the eight-times kings of Europe.
However, yesterday, Real had the last laugh as World Cup-bound midfielder Helguera proved himself a master at both ends of the pitch, scoring the opener in the 69th minute despite initially being drafted into the back four as an emergency replacement for the injured Francisco Pavon.
Gutierrez, who came on as a second-half substitute, scored the vital second goal in the 85th minute to send Real through.
The Spaniards had pressed Bayern all night, but without success until Helguera - who as part of the back-four had helped keep Bayern quiet for the first hour - latched on to a Roberto Carlos cross.
The Brazilian produced one of his familiar marauding runs down the left wing and his shot across the face of the goal was initially missed by Raul Gonzalez. Helguera slid in and, although his foot missed the ball, it bounced off his thigh and went into the net.
Gutierrez - known as Guti to almost everyone in Spain - put the tie beyond Bayern's reach with a second goal five minutes before the whistle, after coming on to the field only two minutes before for an ineffectual Fernando Morientes.
Luis Figo was booked for arguing with the referee and will miss the first-leg encounter with his former club in Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium on April 23rd.
REAL MADRID: Cesar, Salgado, Carlos, Hierro, Helguera, Zidane, Figo (Geremi 89), Solari, Makelele, Raul, Morientes (Guti 80). Subs Not Used: Casillas, McManaman, Savio, Flavio, Munitis. Booked: Hierro, Figo, Solari. Goals: Helguera 68, Guti 84.
BAYERN MUNICH: Kahn, Lizarazu, Kuffour (Pizarro 74), Linke, Robert Kovac, Salihamidzic, Jeremies (Fink 83), Effenberg, Hargreaves, Elber, Santa Cruz. Subs Not Used: Wessels, Sagnol, Thiam, Tarnat, Sergio. Sent Off: Salihamidzic (90). Booked: Effenberg, Jeremies.
Referee: S Braschi (Prato).
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