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UCL: Benzema brace drives Madrid to 3rd consecutive final

Real Madrid has advanced to the final of this year’s UEFA Champions League courtesy of a brace from the foot of Karim Benzema against Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.

Madrid is heading to a third straight Champions League final after taking advantage of a major goalkeeping blunder to see off Bayern in the semifinals.

Madrid conceded early in the game and barely held on to draw 2-2 against Bayern to reach its third straight final 4-3 on aggregate.

Joshua Kimmich scored for Bayern in the third minute to set the stage for another comeback at the Santiago Bernabeu, like the one Juventus nearly pulled off in the quarterfinals.

But the hosts reacted quickly this time, with Karim Benzema equalizing early in the first half and scoring again just after halftime after an embarrassing mistake by Bayern goalkeeper Sven Ulreich when trying to meet a back pass into the area.

Bayern came within a goal of eliminating the European champions when former Madrid player James Rodriguez scored in the 63rd, and it pressured in search of a winner until the end, but it was not enough to avoid its third straight elimination against the Spanish club.

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