A Cristiano Ronaldo hat trick, including two goals in extra time, helped send Real Madrid to their seventh straight Champions League semifinal with a 6-3 aggregate win over Bayern Munich on Tuesday night at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.

Bayern captured a 2-1 result in the first 90 minutes thanks to a Robert Lewandowski penalty conversion and a Sergio Ramos own goal, offset by a Ronaldo header. But a late Arturo Vidal red card allowed Real to run rampant in extra time, with Ronaldo bagging another two and Marco Asensio adding a late score.

The scoreline is a flattering one though for Real, as Bayern managed to come back from their first leg defeat and push Los Blancos to the edge. From a football perspective, it was yet another classic encounter between these two great European rivals, with a nonstop pace to it.

Bayern were boosted by an energetic performance from Arjen Robben, while Marcelo, Casemiro and Nacho were some of the top performers for the hosts, in addition to Ronaldo up front whose fine finishing made the difference. The match will also be remembered as a controversial one, with the Vidal sending off and Ronaldo's first goal in extra time, which decided the tie, as the main talking points.

With both Pepe and Gareth Bale injured, Zinedine Zidane made two changes from the squad that won 2-1 last week in Munich, as Gijon hero Isco replaced Bale and Nacho filled in at centre-back for Pepe. There were also two notable changes on the Bayern side, with talismanic striker Lewandowski back in the fold after missing last week's first leg with an injury. 

The Polish striker's return sent Thomas Muller to the bench, while defender Javi Martinez's first leg red-card paved the way for a Mats Hummels start.It was no surprise to see Bayern come out as the more aggressive of the two. 

Like in the first leg, Real were patient and absorbed the Bayern pressure, waiting for a chance to strike on the counter. The large majority of the Germans' chances were coming via the left flank through Franck Ribery and David Alaba, but when looking to play in a cross they were turned away by the Real defence.Real's first chance came midway through the half when Dani Carvajal's swerving right-footer forced Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer into a diving save. That was followed a minute later by a clean look for Sergio Ramos that was cleared off the line by Boateng.The momentum had shifted to Real. 

Any time Bayern tried to find Lewandowski in front of goal, the man who tortured Real in the 2013 Champions League semi-finals as a member of Borussia Dortmund was usually surrounded by two or three bodies.Back at the other end Toni Kroos and Ronaldo were presented with chances before half-time but Hummels blocked his countryman's effort while Ronaldo sent his shot blazing over the crossbar.Bayern were given a let-off to start the second-half when Vidal could have easily been sent off with a second yellow for a rash challenge on Casemiro outside the area, but referee Viktor Kassai elected to not brandish the card. Bayern then had their best chance at goal when Robben tried to chip in with Keylor Navas out of position, but Marcelo cleared off the line.But Bayern insisted and moments later a Casemiro foul on Robben in the area earned the visitors a penalty. Lewandowski stepped up to take the spot kick and comfortably beat Navas to make it 1-0 in the match to Bayern and 2-2 on aggregate. Real were on the ropes and as Bayern continued to dominate the midfield. Ancelotti's men seemed to be winning every 50-50 ball and heading into the final half-hour, there was a real sense of angst being felt by most of the supporters inside the Bernabeu.

Zidane looked to his bench for a spark, bringing on academy product Marco Asensio for Benzema and then Lucas Vazquez for Isco. Ancelotti countered with Douglas Costa on for Ribery and Muller for Xabi Alonso. The changes improved Real, opening space in the Bayern half and Ronaldo was happy to take advantage and headed in off a Casemiro cross with a quarter-hour left to even the match at 1-1 and hand Real a 3-2 lead on aggregate.

But there was no panic from Bayern and seconds after the Ronaldo goal celebration, the ball was back in Navas' net. A deep ball played in was chested down by Muller, but miscommunication between Ramos and Navas saw the former play the ball back on the ground and it rolled past the Costa Rican and in to make it 2-1 to Bayern in the match and all square in the aggregate 3-3.

Kassai had refrained from sending Vidal off earlier in the match, but six minutes from full-time the Hungarian referee did not hesitate to expel the Chilean for a supposed takedown of Asensio, but the replay revealed that Vidal got all ball on the tackle. Forced to play with 10 men, Bayern's last substitution was a defensive one, as Lewandowski yielded his spot to Joshua Kimmich. There would be no late heroes in second-half stoppage time, and so it was on to extra time for the two teams. Up a man, Real had the advantage, but to their credit though, Bayern didn't park the bus. They were still keen to break forward on the counter and with some better passing in the final third a goal could have been in the making.Finally the breakthrough that Real had been pushing for came when Ramos played in a ball to Ronaldo, who had the time and room and turn and fire in past Neuer and make it 4-3 on aggregate. Replays showed that the Portuguese looked to be offside, but the linesman's flag stayed down and the goal stood.Los Blancos then looked to kill off the tie once and for all in the final 15 minutes of extra time and thanks to a charging run from the tireless Marcelo, Ronaldo was able to complete the hat trick with an easy sweep into the open net to give Real the 3-2 lead in the match and 5-3 on aggregate.Asensio then added the icing on the cake with Real's fourth of the evening and third goal in extra time by finishing a solo run with aplomb to complete the 6-3 aggregate scoreline.Up next for Real is the Clasico on Sunday at home versus Barcelona.

 

Match Sheet:

4.- Real Madrid: Keylor; Carvajal, Nacho, Ramos, Marcelo; Isco (Lucas Vazquez, min. 71), Casemiro, Kroos (Kovacic, min. 114), Modric; Benzema (Marco Asensio, min. 64), Cristiano.

2.- Bayern Munich: Neuer; Lahm, Hummels, Boateng, Alaba; Vidal, Xabi Alonso (Muller, min. 75), Thiago, Robben; Ribery (Douglas Costa, min. 71), Lewandowski (Kimmich, min. 88).

 

Goals: 0-1, min. 53: Lewandowski (p); 1-1, min. 76: Ronaldo; 1-2, min. 77: Ramos (og); 2-2, min. 105: Ronaldo; 3-2, min. 109: Ronaldo; 4-2, min. 112: Asensio.

Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary). 

 

Yellow Cards: Vidal (Min. 5) for Bayern Munich, Casemiro (Min. 40) for Real Madrid, Xabi Alonso (Min. 70) for Bayern Munich, Hummels (Min. 75) for Bayern Munich, Vidal (Min. 84) for Bayern Munich, Robben (Min. 100_ for Bayern Munich.

Red cards: Vidal (Min. 84) for Bayern Munich.

Stadium: Santiago Bernabeu.Attendance: 81,044.