Real and Bayern meet
in semis again

Mike Collett

European champions Real Madrid and Germany's Bayern Munich will meet in the semi-finals of the Champions League for the second successive season after scoring contrasting home victories over Galatasaray and Manchester United on Wednesday.

Real, trailing Galatasaray 3-2 from the first leg, crushed the Turkish side 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu for a 5-3 aggregate victory while Bayern held their nerve to beat Manchester United 2-1 in an edgy return leg at the Olympic Stadium for a 3-1 aggregate success.

Real will now face Bayern in the semi-finals over the first two weeks of May, while Leeds United, who beat Deportivo Coruna 3-2 on aggregate in their quarter-final on Tuesday, will take on Valencia, who knocked out Arsenal on the away goals rule on Tuesday after they finished 2-2 on aggregate.

But Real coach Vicente Del Bosque warned his side against complacency.

"We have to remember we haven't won anything yet this season," said the Real coach. "Bayern will be a very strong rival for us.

"They're a club with a great tradition and some outstanding players. We played with pace and depth tonight, though, and we recorded a convincing win."

And Del Bosque is well aware that Real and Bayern know each other well and are each capable of winning the tie.

Last season they met in the second phase of the Champions League with Bayern winning 4-2 in Madrid and 4-1 at home.

They then both qualified for the knock-out stage and met again in the semifinals. This time, Real beat Bayern 2-0 in Madrid and despite a 2-1 defeat in the second leg in Munich went through to the final.

There they met Valencia, and a repeat of last year's all-Spanish final in Paris which Real won 3-0 is still possible for this year's final in Milan on May 23.

TOP SCORER

Real raced into a 3-0 halftime lead against Galatasaray with two goals from Raul and one for Ivan Helguera.

Raul notched his first on 15 minutes as he slid in at the near post to direct home a sweeping cross from Michel Salgado. Ivan Helguera added a second 14 minutes later, rising above the Galatasaray defence to direct in a powerful header from Luis Figo's corner.

The game threatened to become a rout as Raul struck again on 36 minutes. Steve McManaman spotted Raul's run and threaded a superb pass to his feet for the Real striker to drill home past Claudio Taffarel.

Raul is now the top scorer in the competition this season with seven goals and 28 all-time goals in the Champions League -- more than any other player.

But Galatasaray coach Mircea Lucescu was unhappy with the officiating of Swedish referee Anders Frisk.

"I think the referee was influenced by the atmosphere in the stadium," said Lucescu.

"There was a foul on Hasan Sas on the first goal and Michel Salgado hand-balled in the build up to the second.

"It's true that Real Madrid dominated the first half but we played very well in the second. But it's easy to play when you're two goals ahead.

"You have to remember we we're playing with a patched-up defence, with three key players missing, and I think over the two games the teams were pretty even."

BAYERN REVENGE

In Munich, where Bayern led 1-0 from the first leg against Manchester United, the hosts got off to a flying start when Brazilian Elber slid them ahead after five minutes.

Poor United defending allowed Mehmet Scholl to make it 2-0 on the night, 3-0 on aggregate, five minutes before halftime.

Ryan Giggs gave United some hope when he lobbed goalkeeper Oliver Kahn after 49 minutes but despite creating a whole series of chances there were no more goals and Bayern held on to avenge their defeat by United in the 1999 European Cup final.

So while Bayern qualified for their third successive Champions League semifinal, United coach Alex Ferguson was left to rue some poor defending which cost his team the tie.

"We had some good chances there, I thought Teddy (Sheringham) and Andy Cole had some fantastic chances but they just wouldn't go in, it was one of those nights," he told ITV.

"It's very disappointing but I have to say the defending in the first half cost us the game.

"It was a terrible start. In the second half we did express ourselves the way we expect a Manchester United team to do and we were unlucky at the end of the night. But it was very disappointing."

In contrast, Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld was a very happy man.

"Manchester United are a team who never give up and we knew we should not rejoice too early," Hitzfeld said.

"But I had a good feeling, even if we didn't make the most of the chances to counter-attack we had in the closing stages."

Scholl added: "This was never about revenge, for me anyway, and the same will go for the matches against Real.

"This victory will give us a boost and will improve the atmosphere within the team. I expected we would face Real if we made it to the semi-finals. I have respect for them but I don't fear them."