Holders Real Madrid came from a goal down to snatch a precious 2-1 victory at wasteful Bayern Munich on Wednesday and carry a considerable advantage into their Champions League semi-final second leg in Spain.

Real, eyeing a third straight title, needed a 44th-minute equaliser by Marcelo against the run of play to cancel out Joshua Kimmich's opener after Bayern, chasing three trophies this season, had missed a hatful of chances.

A perfect break allowed Real substitute Marco Asensio to beat Sven Ulreich with a fine effort and grab the winner in the 57th minute.

The result was identical to last year's quarter-final first leg between the teams before Real won the return game as well on the way to the first successful Champions League title defence.

Liverpool crushed AS Roma 5-2 in the other semi-final first leg on Tuesday.

 

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