In the 23rd minute, it was once again Lahm's breakthrough down the flank that created danger, earning Bayern a free kick from a very good position.
The equally young Schweinsteiger stepped up to take it, curling the ball beautifully.
However, Kompany rose high and headed it out over the byline.
That was something Cannavaro simply couldn't have done.
Schweinsteiger then took the corner, but opted for a short tactical one, rolling the ball to Sagnol.
Sagnol sent in a cross with one touch.
The Brazilian center-back Lucio powered above Sergio Ramos and headed the ball into the net.
"GOAL!"
"One–one! Lucio delivers!"
"Bayern have equalized!"
"After being torn apart by Su Hang in the World Cup final, Sagnol faced heavy criticism. Even Bayern fans felt he no longer had what it took to start."
"But now, Sagnol has answered with his performance."
"Even facing Su Hang again, he's held his ground!"
After the restart, Real Madrid launched an attack immediately.
In the 25th minute, Raúl threaded a through ball.
Su Hang held off Lucio, took the ball, and fired a half-turn shot, but Lucio's pressure was strong and the attempt missed the target.
In the 28th minute, Robinho failed to beat his man on the left and laid the ball back to the supporting Su Hang.
Without stopping it, Su Hang flicked the ball with the outside of his right foot, sending it straight into the penalty area.
Raúl surged into the box and was just about to bring it under control when Van Buyten, jockeying for position, knocked him to the ground.
Real Madrid players immediately appealed for a penalty.
But the referee waved them away, judging it a fair physical contest and believing Raúl went down too easily.
Raúl could only mutter a frustrated "Fuck."
You want him to fight for position with a "gladiator" who's nearly two meters tall and built like a tank?
You'd be better off sending Raúl to the park to practice chest-slamming boulders.
Raúl was shown a yellow card for that outburst.
In the 36th minute, Guti's The Demon Knife flashed once more, sending a long pass toward Su Hang, who had drifted wide to the left edge of the box.
Su Hang sprinted at full throttle.
Sagnol could only chase desperately from behind.
As the ball looked set to roll out of play, Su Hang finally caught up.
He didn't try to fully control it—doing so would have carried both him and the ball over the line.
Instead, he had to give the ball enough force, striking it back in the opposite direction.
The Ice Prince's waltz unfolded beneath Su Hang's feet.
Just before the byline, he tapped the ball, then spun his body the other way, converting his forward momentum into explosive acceleration.
Like a shuttle run, he rebounded off the byline and back into the pitch.
The chasing Sagnol lost both man and ball, simply passing through Su Hang's world.
Of course, Sagnol wasn't foolish. He reached out with both arm and leg.
This position was dangerous, but letting Su Hang go would have been even worse.
And since Su Hang's turn was outward, it happened outside the penalty area—even if it was a foul, there'd be no penalty.
At worst, Sagnol would get a yellow card.
To him, that price was worth paying.
Sagnol hooked Su Hang's calf, causing him to stumble.
But Su Hang didn't go down.
After staggering two steps, he chased the ball down again.
By now, Van Buyten had slid over to cover.
But he was slower than Su Hang and could only defend reactively.
Su Hang reached the ball and raised his foot to shoot… a feint.
Van Buyten lifted his leg to block.
Su Hang slipped past him, adjusted his angle to the right, and lifted his foot again.
Lucio charged in from the center of the box. He couldn't stop Su Hang in time, so he threw himself into a sliding block.
At the same time, Kahn made his diving motion.
Yet Su Hang feinted again.
Bang!
Only on his third touch did he truly strike the ball.
Driving with his right foot, he blasted it on a diagonal—straight at the near corner.
Van Buyten suddenly slid in once more.
This was the nightmare of attacking with the ball in the box.
Beat one defender, and a second appears.
Beat the second, and the first recovers.
Endlessly cycling, until you're finally smothered.
Van Buyten's massive frame blocked nearly half the goal with that challenge.
But—
Whoosh!
The ball screamed upward and slammed into the top-left corner, even ripping the side netting above the goal.
"GOAL!"
"Su Hang!"
"What a ferocious strike! That shot nearly blew the roof off Bayern!"
"He danced inside the penalty area and toyed with Bayern's entire defense!"
"Two–one!"
"Su Hang with a brace!"
"That efficiency is terrifying!"
On the screen, Su Hang sprinted toward the corner flag and leapt into the air.
A chorus of siu echoed throughout the Bernabéu.
At that moment, Real Madrid stood in boundless glory.
Victory seemed to come to them as easily as reaching out and taking it.
In the 41st minute, Bayern pushed hard for an equalizer before halftime.
Makaay went down in a challenge with Cannavaro inside the box.
The referee again made no call.
So it wasn't that he was blatantly biased—he had simply set a very loose standard for physical contact.
That made the match more intense.
But it also brought a problem: a higher risk of injuries.
This was yet another subtle trick from the so-called "art of football manipulation."
Many famous players and professional league insiders can actually feel this kind of control.
So fans who believe football matches are absolutely fair might be disappointed.
Any commercially driven competition—
the top five leagues, lower divisions, the Champions League, the Euros, the World Cup… all of them—
operate within a certain range of control.
This control isn't always for gambling. Often, it's meant to make matches more exciting and increase the value of a competition.
But once there is control, darker elements inevitably follow.
For example, favorable draws and groupings.
Or overly lenient officiating that leads to constant injuries and squad depletion.
Some teams not only get good groups, but also refereeing standards that suit their style of play, while enjoying better protection for player health.
Naturally, those teams have a much higher chance of winning the final title.
A single match or two might reveal a bad call.
But across many matches, patterns emerge—showing UEFA and FIFA's preferences and the teams they choose to elevate or suppress.
This year, Real Madrid was clearly not among the favored.
Since the Champions League format was restructured, no team has ever successfully defended the title.
UEFA believes that consecutive champions would diminish the competition's value.
This was emphasized during an internal meeting by Michel Platini, who had just been elected UEFA's new president a month earlier.
Platini was the most outstanding midfielder of the 1980s.
He won European Footballer of the Year three times—what is now the Ballon d'Or.
He also claimed the World Player of the Year award twice.
With support from FIFA president Sepp Blatter and other powerful figures, he defeated the incumbent UEFA president Johansson.
As a football leader with grand ambitions, Platini understood all too well the calculations of modern football's giants.