EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Real Madrid ends their International Champions Cup preseason with a 1-0 win against Bayern Munich at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey in which Danilo scored the match winning goal.
Attacking first half for the Germans
In the first 45 minutes of the match, it became a half in which Bayern Munich attacked much more to that of their Spanish counterparts. Despite being without Franck Ribery, players such as Arturo Vidal, Thiago, and Julian Green became the standout players for the Bavarians.
The German-American, Julian Green, had a lot of chances early on in the match.In the third minute, he fired an attempt wide to the right of substitute goalkeeper Kiko Casilla’s goal. Meanwhile, David Alaba’s best attempts came from free kicks. The first one, from 25 yards away, in the 10th minute, went wide of Casilla’s goal. The other one, 15 minutes later, wound up hitting the woodwork.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, tried to match the intensity of Bayern's despite not having as many opportunities to that of their German counterparts. In the 14th minute, following some lovely footwork, Isco went on a run towards the left and crossed the ball right to Alvaro Morata's head. Sven Ulerich, however, was able to get his hands on to the ball just in time to deny the defending European champions a goal.
The last big attempts of the half came in the 33rd and 39th minute respectively for each team. 12 minutes from time, Thiago Alcantara was able to get into space, beating Real Madrid defenders and attempted a long distance shot from the right. His shot went wide of Casilla's goal as well, denying the Germans a goal before the end of the first half.
As for Real Madrid, James Rodriguez had a big chance six minutes from halftime. James' shot from the right went wide of Ulerich’s goal, denying the Colombian a goal in the only 45 minutes that he played in the entire match.
Deciding Second Half
In the second half, the defending UEFA Champions League winners had many more opportunities on goal than that of the current Bundesliga champions. It started out early with Morata once again in the 52nd minute in which the striker attempted another shot onto goal but his attempt went wide to the right of Ulreich's goal.
The former Juventus man again had another chance seven minutes from time. This time, the Spanish international drilled a chance to the rright of the Bayen Munich goal. He had been active in his cameo in this match and was unlucky to not get on the scoresheet.
Three minutes later, Isco had another chance in the middle of the box that was saved wonderfully by Ulerich. Overall, Ulerich had a great performance throughout the night in the Meadowlands.
Finally, in the 79th minute, Real Madrid found a way through in what would be the match-winning goal, coming from Danilo. As he picked up the ball from the middle of the pitch, the Brazilian full-back sent a rocket of a shot into the back of the net.
In the end, Real Madrid finished the International Champions Cup with two victories and one loss, something that Zinedine Zidane’s men can take as a learning process heading into the start of the La Liga season and heading into the UEFA Super Cup match against Sevilla.
As for Bayern Munich, they end the International Champions Cup with a draw, win and now a loss respectively as they head back to Germany to prepare for the DFB SuperCup against Borussia Dortmund and the start of the Bundesliga season.