Thanks to an Arjen Robben dive Bayern Munich made things briefly interesting at the Bernabeu tonight: they've taken a 1-0 lead against the champions.
Seven minutes into the second half, we saw the craft and crass from Arjen Robben. Firstly, the craft: he found room in the penalty area, and chipped the ball over the prone Madrid defenders toward goal, only to be denied by a superb goal line clearance by Marcelo.
Denied, we then saw the crass: in Bayern's next attack, Robben dashed into the penalty area, and invited the challenge of Casemiro. He made a movement toward Robben, but no contact was made, so Robben threw himself to the ground as he ran out of room. The referee took the bait, and awarded the penalty.
Robert Lewandowski stepped up - duties were understandably stripped from Arturo Vidal after his dreadful penalty miss in the first leg - and he smashed it through the centre.
Watch it below.
Arjen Robben Dive
Not the first time we have seen Robben take a dive like that, and a number of viewers were unimpressed with yet another Arjen Robben dive:
Blatant dive from @ArjenRobben shouldn't be surprised from a seasoned cheat!! #realmadridBayern
— Sam Clark (@SamClark1985) April 18, 2017
Its in the Gospel of Dabid that, if you step on Arjen Robben's shadow in the area its a definite penalty
— Døk Drinković (@DokDrinkwater) April 18, 2017
In spite of that, Robben has been outstanding and has been one of Bayern's best players on the night. He scored the winner in the 2013 final against Borussia Dortmund, and he will remain central if Bayern are to win their first European title since that night at Wembley.
