Real Madrid are 90 minutes away from the champions league final after a 2-1 victory over bayern munich at the Allianz Arena in the first leg of the semi-final.

The hosts struck first when a well-hit Joshua Kimmich shot beat visitors' stopper Keylor Navas at his near post, before strikes from Marcelo and Marco Asensio turned the game on its head.

The result of the first leg puts Los Blancos in a strong position in the tie - all Zinedine Zidane's side have to do is avoid defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu to be one game away from an unprecedented thirteenth European Cup crown.

Bayern Munich, meanwhile, must win in Spain if they want to progress, a difficult achievement but not impossible - Juventus won 3-1 in Madrid at the quarter-finals stage, though it wasn't enough at the time to knock-out the defending champions.

Whoever makes it through to the final will face the winner of either Liverpool or AS Roma, the English side having a three-goal advantage going into next week's return leg.

Is marvellous Marco the natural successor to the ageing Ronaldo?

While he may not yet be showing it, Cristiano Ronaldo is 33-years old.

He still plays at times as though he is 23, but the Portuguese superstar will likely not be able to keep-up that charade for much longer.

No matter how good you are or how many Ballon D'Ors you've won (its five, so far), age catches up with you eventually.

For Real Madrid this presents rather the pressing problem of how to replace the man who has been their driving force and talisman for almost a decade.

The good news for Florentino Pérez is that he may not have to open his chequebook, as the answer may already be wearing the Los Blancos shirt, and it isn't Gareth Bale.

Instead, Ronaldo's heir-apparent comes in the form of 22-year old Marco Asensio, not a £100m 'galactico' but a £4m snip from Mallorca's academy.

He rose to prominence after scoring a 25-yard screamer on his competitive debut for Los Blancos in the UEFA Super Cup decider against Sevilla, and has been a key member of ZIdane's squad ever since.

His winning goal in Munich on Wednesday was enough to ensure that his team would be comfortable going-into next week's second leg, but it was Zidane's decision to bring him on in the first place that highlights the importance of the young Spain international to the future of the club.

Bale and Karim Benzema were also on the bench, but with his side struggling in the first half, Zidane decided that Asensio was the answer, a decision that paid-off.

It could also be seen as a decline in the influence of the Welshman and his French teammate at the Bernabéu, both of which have been linked with moves away this summer, but Asensio's stock continues to rise in the Spanish capital with no sign of it slowing down.

If anyone can recover it for Bayern, Heynckes can

The Bavarians' task is not an easy one, but Bayern Munich, led once again by legendary manager Jupp Heynckes, are still very much in this tie.

They are a goal down and they must go into the proverbial 'lion's den' to make-up the deficit, but they are more than capable of following in Juventus' footsteps and controlling the tie in Madrid.

Talismanic striker Robert Lewandowski was effectively subdued by the defensive pairing of Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane, and must be more effective in the return match if they wish to progress to a first final since 2013.

Heynckes oversaw that final in what was supposed to be his last-ever European match before retiring from management, a 2-1 victory over Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund.

After the departure of Carlo Ancelotti, the Bavarian's hero has returned for one-last hurrah at the helm, and has the required experience to guide Bayern back into the Champions League final.

It will be tough, but recent history is on their side - this season's competition has seen a few exciting comebacks, especially in the knockout stages, and there is no reason why Die Roten can't follow in Roman footsteps by coming from behind to conquer Spanish giants.
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