57 min Real lose the ball in their own third yet again. This time it’s Valverde of all people, but he does at least recover to make an important block from Kane’s shot.

57 min “I haven’t seen a team dominate like this since Burnley beat Middlesbrough 2-1 away to secure promotion back in 2023,” honks Peader de Burca.

56 min Olise beats Carreras with contemptuous ease, charges infield to the edge of the D and rifles a low drive that is pretty well held by the diving Lunin.

54 min Kane’s goal was his 11th in the Champions League this season and his 49th in all competitions. Who does he think he is, Clive Allen?

53 min Vinicius Jr. shoots high and wide from distance.

53 min “Sad to hear of Mircea Lucescu’s passing,” writes Colum Fordham. “A great coach and charismatic figure, who was widely respected, especially in Italy coaching Brescia with Hagi and other Romanian players.”

52 min Real were two goals down to Manchester City after 180 minutes of the semi-final in 2022 and still went through. Bayern have been great but Vincent Kompany will know that you’re never safe against Real, at least not until the 12th goal goes in.

50 min “The all-conquering Real Madrid managed by Zinedine Zidane rested on two pillars,” writes Kári Tulinius. “They tried to make the game as chaotic as possible, giving his brilliant players space to do their thing. The second was a rock-solid defence, ready to soak up any pressure. Arbeloa seems to be trying to recreate that tactic, but it’s a tribute act, not the real thing. He doesn’t have the players for that style, as brilliant as they are as individuals.”

49 min Valverde slithers into the area and almost benefits from a fortunate roll of the ball. I say ‘almost’ because Upamecano arrived in the six-yard box to welt the ball to safety.

49 min The TV commentators are focussing on Real’s flaws. That’s fair enough, but they shouldn’t obscure a performance of stunning authority from Bayern.

48 min Bayern are rampant. Olise’s shot from the angle is pushed round the near post by Lunin, who then falls on Stanisic’s deflected shot from the resulting corner.

Real lost the ball for the umpteenth time and were punished with leadpipe cruelty by Bayern. Pavlovic picked Carreras’s pocket on the halfway line and found Olise, who moved to the edge of the area and laid an inviting square pass towards Kane. He used the defenders as a screen and swept a lovely curling shot into the bottom-right corner. Lunin got a slight touch on the shot but he saw it late and couldn’t kept it out.

46 min Real begin the second half; no changes on either side.

Vinicius Jr., who spent the last five minutes of the first half spoiling for a row with Michael Oliver, needs to be careful. He’s one of the many Real players on a yellow card and will miss the second leg if he’s booked.

Half-time entertainment

45 min The angle is very tight but Alexander-Arnold hammers the free-kick towards goal. It’s headed away by Kane, back in his own six-yard box.

44 min Vinicius is fouled by Stanisic just outside the area on the left. There’s an argument Vinicius just ran into him, but the free-kick. Vinicius, who is on one, waves an imaginary card at Michael Oliver.

43 min “As a kid, I loved Steve Foster,” writes Steve Foster Tony Hughes. “I think it’s because he looked like a regular guy who couldn’t believe his luck getting to play professional football as his job.

A”lthough he had a bit-part at Espana ‘82, he didn’t look out of place there. Bookended his one season at the Villa with success at Brighton before and Luton Town after.”

It’s been coming since the first whistle. Gnabry lent the ball to Kane 25 yards from goal, got it back and slipped a beautiful pass inside Alexander-Arnold. Diaz timed his out-to-in run immaculately and swept a first-time finish past Lunin from 12 yards.

The move stated with another errant pass from Real, when Vinicius Jr hit the ball against Olise. It deflected off Olise’s elbow – Real wanted a handball – and within five seconds the ball was in the net.

39 min Olise controls a sharp pass from Kimmich on the half turn, just outside the area, and plays in the overlapping Stanisic. His dangerous low cross is booted clear at the far post.

36 min Tchouameni is booked for a foul on Olise. It looked a bit harsh, an accidental collision rather than something more cynical, but the yellow card means Tchouameni will miss the second leg.

35 min Vinicius Jr’s slightly selfish shot from 25 yards is comfortably saved by Neuer.

33 min Guler, such a busy and imaginative player, gets to the byline on the left and lifts a cross that takes a deflection and just evades the lunging Valverde (I think).

31 min “Serge Gnabry’s headband game is top notch,” says Peter Oh. We’re talking peak Rafael Nadal-level. Head tennis please!”

Don’t you mean Steve Gnabry?

26 min Vinicius’s deflected cross from the left threatens to sneak into the net and is well stopped by the backpedalling Neuer. He then throws the ball straight to Alexander-Arnold, whose fierce shot from the edge of the area is blocked.

25 min Possession percentage: Real 42-56 Bayern. Five shots apiece.

24 min Olise slips Carreras with ease, then tries to go past Guler, who gets a toe to the ball and concedes a corner. Guler had to make that or it would have been a penalty.

This time Olise’s corner is poor, straight into the hands of Lunin.

23 min Bayern have just toyed with Real in and around the area for a good 30 seconds. They couldn’t create a shooting opportunity, but they are playing some beautiful football.

21 min Olise looks like he has the beating of the Real left-back Carreras. On the other side, Alexander-Arnold has started well against his old teammate Luis Diaz.

18 min Gnabry’s shot on the turn is blocked after a mistake by Vinicius Jr. Real break and Vinicius Jr. flashes a curler from the edge of the area that is pushed away by Neuer, diving low to his left.

That’s a decent save from Neuer, and this is a belter of a game.

16 min Mbappe is fouled on the right wing by Laimer, which allows Real to set up camp on the edge of the Bayern area. Alexander-Arnold curls an extremely inviting ball that is a yard or two in front of Huijsen among others.

12 min Bayern continue to dominate possession – and, crucially, to cut off Real’s counter-attacks at source. That won’t always be the case, not against Mbappe and Vinicius, so they’ll want to strike while they’re on top.

10 min In Upamecano’s defence, the ball from Kane was fractionally behind him and bounced slightly higher than he would have liked. Even so, I’d have scored that with Spandex trousers on he should have scored.

8 min Kimmich’s inswinging corner is fingertipped over the bar by Lunin. He might have been trying to score there.

The next corner is curled beyond the far post, with Lunin again flailing at fresh air, and eventually leads to a mishit overhead kick by Gnabry that is blocked.

Bayern have started superbly.

7 min Olise’s free-kick clips a Real head in the wall and flies just over the bar with Lunin diving across goal. Lunin comes for the resulting corner, gets nowhere near it and is grateful to see Huijsen head it out of play on the far side.

6 min Olise is tripped just outside the area by Huijsen, an ill-judged and probably nervous challenge. This is a chance for Bayern…

3 min Vinicius Jr. pulls out to the left to receive possession, then surges into life and runs at Upamecano just inside the area. Upamecano goes to ground to make a meaty and fair challenge.

1 min An early half chance for Bayern, with the left-back Laimer sweeping over the bar from the edge of the area.

1 min Peep peep! Bayern kick off from right to left as we watch.

The players line up for the Champions League music, most with their gamefaces firmly applied. The atmosphere is spectacular, and that’s just in the Guardian liveblog bunker.

“I spent the first three years of my life in Europe in Hunedoara, where Mircea Lucescu was a household name,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “He was as well known as the Corvin Castle. Another yesteryear great goes away.”

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Ah, g’wan.

Harry Paterson’s preview

Bayern Munich visit the Spanish capital with wind in their sails: they have lost only twice in 43 matches this season, are on an unbeaten run of 13 games, and have won nine of their 10 games in the Champions League. Their 10-2 demolition of Atalanta in the last 16 served as a timely reminder of their attacking firepower.

They rested a few important players in their 3-2 win at Freiberg at the weekend and, with the Bundesliga title all but secured and a place in the DFB-Pokal semi-finals booked, their attention is fixed on the task ahead at the Bernabéu. Yet, for all of their domestic dominance, Bayern have failed to beat Real in their last nine attempts. The good news is that, even though Harry Kane missed England’s defeat to Japan last week, he trained with the squad on Monday and has travelled to Madrid.

Real Madrid will relish the prospect of hosting Bayern, not least because they have gone on to lift the trophy the past four times they have eliminated the German side from the competition. Their recent domestic form does give reason to temper expectations, though; their 2-1 defeat to Real Mallorca on Saturday allowed Barcelona to move seven points clear at the top of La Liga. If anything, that setback will only sharpen their focus with the Champions League.

Real lost three matches in the league phase, forcing them to overcome Benfica in the playoffs, but they are a different force in the knockouts – as shown by their 5-1 aggregate win against Manchester City in the last 16. They knocked Bayern out in the semi-finals in 2023-24, 2017-18 and 2013-14, as well as in the quarter-finals in 2016-17, so have history on their side.

Thibaut Courtois is still missing after picking up an injury against Manchester City last month, so Madrid will rely on Andriy Lunin. Rodrygo, Ferland Mendy and Dani Ceballos may also miss out but Kylian Mbappé – the top scorer in the competition this season with 13 goals – is fit. Prediction: Bayern to progress after a draw in the first leg.

“Football is just not as exciting as it once was,” weeps Justin Kavanagh. “If a 26-year-old waiter were to run on to the field tonight and clock both Harry Kane and the referee, you can be sure he’d be doing it off balance and with little power because he’d be busy taking a selfie with his non-swinging arm.”

The game’s gone.

At the end of tonight’s game, a Real Madrid fan will charge onto the pitch, chin Harry Kane and flatten the referee Michael Oliver.

No, of course they won’t. But that is essentially what happened at the end of the first ever meeting between Real and Bayern. The footage is kinda bonkers: watch for the affronted gentleman who sprints into view from behind the goal.

Bayern will hope to get over what has become an awkward hurdle. In five of the six seasons since they last won the Champions League, they’ve gone out in the quarter-finals.

Sporting v Arsenal is the night’s other Champions League game. You can follow that with Yara El-Shaboury.

Some very sad breaking news: Romanian legend Mircea Lucescu, who coached the team in the World Cup playoffs less than a fortnight ago, has died at the age of 80.

The second leg is in Munich a week tomorrow. The winners will meet Paris Saint-Germain or Liverpool in another heavyweight contest.