Raul notched twice to help Real Madrid grab a narrow 3-2 home victory over Bayern Munich in the first-leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 on Tuesday. The Spanish international striker broke the deadlock early in the first-half but was cancelled out by Lucio's header. Raul regained the lead for Real and Ruud van Nistelrooy extended the gap but his compatriot Mark van Bommel scored a precious goal for the Bavarian giants late in the match. Real will be hoping to maintain their one-goal advantage while Bayern will be looking to take advantage of their two away goals when they face each other in the second-leg in a fortnight. Real were ahead after ten minutes when Van Nistelrooy's deft through pass beat the offside trap and went to Raul, whose first attempt to round Oliver Kahn wasn't successful but he capitalized on the rebound to slot into the empty net. Brazilian defender Lucio leveled the score in the 23rd minute when he escaped Fabio Cannavaro and headed home Willy Sagnol's long-range free-kick at the far post.
Raul, who was deployed in midfield, restored Real's lead five minutes later after he towered on the line to head Ivan Helguera's looping header into the back of the net from David Beckham's corner kick. Former Manchester United striker Van Nistelrooy added the third when he ghosted behind Bayern's poor defense to connect with Beckham's deep free-kick and poke home from close range. Argentinean striker Gonzalo Higuain squandered a chance to widen Bayern's misery five minutes after restart when his low shot from inside the area was saved by Kahn. Beckham, who is set for LA Galaxy switch at the end of the season, curled a superb free-kick two minutes later but was tipped over the bar by the German custodian. Bayern then pushed forward in a bid to narrow the gap but Real keeper Ilker Casillas was a constant denial. The Spanish international goalies blocked a powerful low shot from David Pizarro in the 78th minute. Two minutes from time, Van Bommel chested down a loose ball on the edge of the area before hitting a right-footed drive into the bottom corner of the net.
