Real Madrid defeated Bayern Munich 1-0 in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal. Here are a few things we learned.

1. Bayern Munich susceptible to the counterattack

The team had shown this weakness during its first leg against Arsenal in the round of 16, but the English side was unable to punish Munich. Manchester United did manage to score on Munich via that counterattack, but lacked the vision and cohesion to make the most of its opportunities.

However, Real Madrid did make the team pay and would have had a few more goals if not for prominent misses from Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria.

Throughout the first half, it was rather shocking to see Real Madrid look like the better defensive side than Munich. The Bavarians' defense gave up a number of frightening opportunities against Madrid and could have paid a greater price if not for the aforementioned mistakes from Madrid's top stars.

2. Mario Mandzukic not capable of leading Bayern line

Pep Guardiola surprised everyone when it was announced that Mandzukic would be leading a line that included Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos and Phillip Lahm. Without the likes of Mario Goetze or Thomas Mueller, the team lacked the bite down the middle to really penetrate Madrid. The team controlled possession but constantly look to the flanks to penetrate Madrid. Los Blancos caught onto that strategy quickly and managed to deter almost every single Munich attack with relative ease. Mandzukic, meanwhile, was invisible for most of the game and did not seem to have the confidence of his teammates.

3. Isco still not comfortable with the new position

The Spaniard had been one of the toasts of the town after playing a crucial part in Madrid's Copa del Rey victory against Barcelona. In that game, the youngster was instrumental in tracking back and stealing the ball from Barcelona's defense and helping set up the counter attack. However, in this game against Munich he made hasty decisions with the ball on the counterattack and looked a bit overwhelmed defensively at times. The 21-year-old still looks like he is trying to adjust his game and it might take some time before he is able to play the position in the middle of the park.

4. Pepe looks solid in Madrid defense

The Portuguese defender certainly had his moments of exaggeration and managed to stop play twice by exaggerating a foul. But even those moments couldn't overshadow his brilliance in shutting down Bayern Munich's aerial game. He constantly won aerial battles in the defensive zone. More importantly, he was extremely disciplined in shutting down Munich without committing dangerous fouls and risking ejection. This was one of Pepe's finest games in a long time, and it was a shame to see him eventually come off with an injury.

5. Cristiano Ronaldo not back to full health

The Superstar never really asserted himself in the game throughout his 70 minutes on the pitch. He had a couple of chances to score that he would usually put in the net. The fact that he missed them indicates that the superstar, who missed the last four games for Madrid, is not back to full strength. It will be interesting to see if he gets a chance to play this weekend or in the second leg in Bavaria.