For 85
minutes, the awkward prospect of Manuel Pellegrini outrunning Pep
Guardiola in the Champions League was amusingly real. For just as long,
Guardiola faced the extraordinary possibility of being cast as a Bayern
Munich failure.
That
is the strange lot for a man who looks set to collect a third straight
Bundesliga title but whose appointment three years ago was based on the
greater brief of winning the Champions League. Cleaning up domestic
business is nice and expected; winning in Europe is all that ever really
mattered.
On
Wednesday night, that almost came crashing down in a weird and
wonderful match between the best of Italy and the best of Germany.
Juventus crushed Bayern for more than an hour and led by goals from Paul
Pogba and Juan Cuadrado, giving them a 4-2 aggregate lead.
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| Juventus midfielder put the Italians
ahead against Bayern Munich as he side-footed the ball home on the edge
of the area on five minutes |
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| Pogba keeps his cool to slot the ball home as Bayern Munich strecthes a leg but his attempts to block the shot are too late |
+35
France
international Pogba wheels away to celebrate after giving Juventus an
important lead with Alvaro Morata running close behind
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| Pogba is congratulated by his
team-mates as they surround the midfielder after taking the lead at the
home of the Bundesliga leaders |
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| Juan Cuadrado doubled the advantage
for the away side with an assured finish after neat feet to get the
better of Mehda Benatia (right) |
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| Cuadrado watches his effort curl past
goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and into the corner of the net as Juventus took
control with a 2-0 lead |
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| Cuadrado is congratulated by Juventus
team-mates Stephan Lichtsteiner (second left), Andrea Barzagli (left)
and midfielder Hernanes |
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| Striker Robert Lewandowski climbed
high at the back post to score a header for Bayern on 72 minutes and cut
Juventus' lead in half |
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| Lewandowski jumps for joy and rallies
supporters behind the goal after giving Bayern Munich a lifeline with
less than 20 minutes to play |
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| Bayern forward
Thomas Muller heads the ball towards goal to score a dramatic late
equaliser in the final minute to take the tie to extra-time |
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| Muller is congratulated by Lewandowski
and roars in the direction of David Alaba after netting to save
Bayern's European campaign |
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| Buffon lies on the ground beaten by
Thiago Alcantara's extra-time goal which set Bayern Munich on their way
to reaching the next round |
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| Thiago Alcantara
looks ecstatic and removed his shirt after firing Bayern Munich ahead in
the second half of extra time against Juventus |
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| The Bayern Munich squad pile on goalscorer Alcantara as they held the lead for the first time on Wednesday evening in Germany |
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| Bayern winger Kingsley Coman - on loan
from Juventus - bends his boot around the ball to curl it into the net
and confirm the win |
How
undignified it seemed that the man who is coming to Manchester City this
summer would exit the Champions League before Pellegrini.
But then came the glorious fightback.
Robert
Lewandowski gave Guardiola’s side a lifeline with a 72nd-minute header
and Thomas Muller scored in stoppage time, taking the game into
extra-time. A pair of crosses and a pair of headed goals; it’s not
Guardiola football as we know it, but it did the job.
Just
like that, 2-0 down on the night had become 2-2 and that became 4-2 up
with excellent extra time goals from Guardiola’s substitutes, Thiago
Alcantara and Kingsley Coman, the latter a Juventus player on loan in
Germany. Brilliantly dramatic.
And
all this in a tie that had already had its share of swings in the first
leg. Bayern, remember, had led 2-0 in Turin only to draw 2-2. A pair of
away goals ought to have given them the edge in Munich last night, or
at least a slight feeling of comfort.
The
opposite was true. Whatever was Guardiola’s plan, it went horribly,
woefully wrong. They faced a Juventus side determined to swamp the
midfield and squeeze the life out of Bayern’s defence, which is
precisely what happened.
The
opening goal, scored after only six minutes, was a calamity of Bayern
mistakes from a pair of players in Manuel Neuer and David Alaba who tend
to make so few. Tellingly, they were mistakes made in panic.
Sami Khedira was the creator, in so much that he hit an excellent throughball that ultimately led to the goal.
But
before it reached Pogba, Neuer made the rash decision to sprint from
his goal for a ball that Alaba was better placed to deal with. Alaba
hesitated as his goalkeeper closed in, allowing Stephan Lichtsteiner the
opportunity to beat both men to the punch and square to Pogba. With the
goal vacated, the former Manchester United midfielder threaded a shot
between two covering defenders and Bayern were behind.
