Bayern Munich Beats Real Madrid on Penalties to Advance to Champions League Final MADRID - Penalty kicks are supposed to be near certainties for professional soccer players, and to outsiders, the question is how could they not be? A motionless ball, only 12 yards from the goal with no one but the hapless goalkeeper to beat, and he must stay on his line until the ball is kicked. For players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, wizards who score from impossible angles, success from the spot seems as if it should be virtually guaranteed. And yet, over two days in Spain, it has been anything but. On Tuesday, it was Barcelona crashing out of the Champions League when its star, Messi, could not convert a penalty kick in the second half at the Camp Nou. Then came Wednesday, when Ronaldo - after scoring on a penalty in the first half - stood stunned at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, denied in the first round of a penalty shootout by Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who dived to his right to parry the effort. Shaken, Ronaldo retreated to the center circle where he could only watch as things got worse. His teammate Kaká missed a penalty kick. So did Sergio Ramos. And when Bastian Schweinsteiger slotted his kick home moments later, Real Madrid had followed its rivals out in agonizing fashion, losing by 3-1 on penalty kicks after the two-game series finished at 3-3. Real Madrid had a 2-1 edge in Wednesday's game through extra time. Bayern Munich, the German stalwart seeking its fifth Champions League title, will play the final on its home field, against Chelsea, on May 19. In the aftermath of these two days, Spanish fans will surely rue the vagaries of kicks from the penalty spot, particularly since Messi, Kaká and Ronaldo have won the last five world player of the year awards. How could all three miss at such crucial moments? And in front of their home fans? Real Madrid's goalkeeper, Iker Casillas, was pragmatic. "Penalties are always a lottery," he said. But Real Madrid Coach José Mourinho did not hold back in shredding those who criticized the game's stars for memorable misses. The typically candid Mourinho noted that the world's best tennis players missed shots on match point and Formula One racecar drivers made mistakes with only a few laps to go. As talented as the best athletes are, Mourinho said, "Superman is just a film." He added that the harshest critics are often "people who reach the second floor and, if they took the stairs, they are exhausted." References to fitness were a theme from Mourinho, who pointed to Real Madrid's weekend victory over Barcelona in the Spanish league as a significant factor in the losses the rivals suffered in the past two days. Bayern, Mourinho noted, rested most of its regular players during its German league match because the Bundesliga championship has already been decided, with Borussia Dortmund defending its title. "If we weren't playing to win the championship," Mourinho said, "perhaps we would have won the match." Real Madrid can only wonder what might have been after failing to capitalize on a dreamy beginning. Despite trailing by a goal on aggregate entering the game, Los Blancos, or the Whites, quickly reversed the series with two goals from Ronaldo in the first 15 minutes, making it seem as if they would continue their home dominance. They had good reason for confidence. Real Madrid had won 10 of its last 11 European games at home. For all the magic associated with the Camp Nou, it seemed cavernous compared with the Bernabéu a day later, which felt as if it were one large loudspeaker right from kickoff. In one corner of the upper deck were the Bayern Munich fans. Many of them packed the subway on their way to the game, singing a number of off-color songs in German, including at least one that was blatantly intolerant and another that, oddly, borrowed the tune from Ottawan's 1990s party hit "Hands Up." They were outnumbered, though, by the Real Madrid supporters, who were at full throat from the start, pleading for an early opening. They did not wait long. Six minutes into the game, Ronaldo blasted home a penalty, and eight minutes later it was 2-0, as he coolly slotted home a perfect pass from Mesut Özil. As Neuer screeched angrily at his defenders, Ronaldo sprinted toward the corner, sliding on his knees across the turf. His teammates crowded around him as the stadium shook, the fans perhaps believing, or at least hoping, that a rout was on. They could not know the drama - or the pain - that was to come. First Arjen Robben equalized on aggregate for Bayern with a penalty in the 27th minute. Then, after a cagey second half and 30 minutes of tenuous extra time, the shootout arrived. Ronaldo's kick was saved. Kaká"s, too. Ramos skied his drive high over the bar. What can you say? Mourinho said, and there was nothing. For the second straight night, the home team was beaten. For the second straight night, soccer's simplest play had left a Spanish giant crying.