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Bastian Schweinsteiger Scores On Penalty Kick, Sends Bayern Munich To Champions League Final

Well, that’s a bit of a turn of events. Just a few days ago, it would have been hard to argue a prediction that the Champions League final would be another El Clasico match between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Yesterday, though, Barcelona bowed out at the hands of Chelsea, and today, Bayern Munich did in Madrid on penalty kicks, setting up a final featuring neither of La Liga’s powerhouses.

And it took a while to get there. Real Madrid actually won today’s match 2-1, but it wasn’t enough to advance for Champions League purposes, since when taking the teams’ previous game into account, both sides had three goals apiece (aggregate score determines advancement). Further, the away goals rule, which stipulates that the team that scores more goals in their away game advances, only produced another tie.

So the match went to extra time… and no one scored. That left it up to penalty kicks – and Real Madrid pretty much choked. Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, and Sergio Ramos all missed penalty kicks – Ramos by a ton. Munich, though, got the job done, and when the time came for Bastian Schweinsteiger to put them in the final:

… he delivered. Two thrilling matches in two days, and – to us, at least – a surprising final. Let’s hope it lives up to the matches that produced it.