Ten years on from Makaay's goal inside 11 seconds
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Article summary
"We agreed we'd apply full pressure for the first ten minutes to see if we could score an early goal," recalls Roy Makaay. They certainly could. We recall a historic moment – watch and reflect.
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The context
Real Madrid looked to be in cruise control with two minutes remaining of the first leg of this 2006/07 round of 16 tie. But Mark van Bommel's late strike left the door ajar and, 10.12 seconds into the second leg in Munich, Makaay kicked it open. Suddenly Bayern had their noses in front.
What happened?
From the whistle the ball was played to Roberto Carlos but the Brazilian's touch was poor, allowing Hasan Salihamidžić to capitalise. The midfielder quickly threaded a square pass through to Makaay who swept the ball past Iker Casillas. It left a Madrid side hit by the late withdrawal of Fabio Cannavaro shell-shocked.
Makaay's recollections
"Normally Real played a 4-2-3-1 system but they took out their No10 and replaced him with an extra defensive midfielder. I think Guti was replaced by Emerson, so we knew Madrid would play more defensively than normal. We agreed we would apply full pressure for the first ten minutes to see if we could score an early goal.
"So they kicked off. The ball went to [Fernando] Gago, he passed it to Roberto Carlos and it bounced off his foot. Salihamidžić took the ball and before we knew it, it was in the net. Their tactical plan was immediately destroyed and we had a start you always dream of, especially in an important game like that."
How that goal ranks
Jonas came close to breaking Makaay's record with a strike after 10.96 seconds for Valencia against Leverkusen in 2011 – the only other UEFA Champions League goal that has come inside 20 seconds. The UEFA Europa League best came this season, with Jan Sýkora on target after 10.69 seconds for Liberec against Qarabağ. The quickest competitive international goal also came this term, Belgium's Christian Benteke finding the net after 8.1 seconds against Gibraltar.
What happened next?
Lúcio gave Bayern breathing space midway through the second half and although Ruud van Nistelrooy's penalty made it 2-1, Bayern held on. The season ended in disappointment for the German side, though. Eventual winners AC Milan knocked them out in the quarter-finals and they ended fourth in the Bundesliga – their worst finish over the past two decades. Real Madrid snatched the Liga title from Barcelona courtesy of their superior head-to-head record.