Pep Guardiola's side looked to be heading out of the Champions League after being overwhelmed by Juventus - but a remarkable revival saved the day
Bayern Munich may be through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, but two error-strewn performances against Juventus cannot be easily forgotten
In the first leg of their dramatic Champions League last-16 victory over Juventus, Bayern had made enough mistakes. Enough for an entire campaign. That they got through after a similarly sloppy second leg owed more to luck than judgement.
An utterly dominant 60 minutes during the first game was undone by unconscionable errors. Bayern had thought the match won but threw it away, spurning a 2-0 lead to finish 2-2. They still had two away goals, heartily celebrated by Pep Guardiola afterwards, and so perhaps suffered from further over-confidence.
But as they fell 2-0 down in the second stanza the tables were fully turned, with Juventus now sure of victory. Again, Bayern’s plight had come down to individual errors. On 23 minutes David Alaba, Joshua Kimmich and Manuel Neuer all contributed to a collective blunder that allowed Paul Pogba to pounce on to a long ball from Stephan Liechtsteiner.
A slightly belated birthday present for the Frenchman was followed by another gift from Bayern, as Alvaro Morata humbled Alaba, Mehdi Benatia and Kimmich to lay on Juve’s second to Juan Cuadrado.
Bayern legend Franz Beckenbauer's half time analysis was crushing: “They did everything wrong,” he said in the Sky studio. Neuer agreed in his post-match analysis, saying “we gave presents to our opponent. Only after that did you could see what kind of football we can play."
It could have been totally unsalvageable – harsh offside flags and spurned chances by Morata could have put Juve out of sight.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda. Ultimately Bayern survived. If Guardiola had erred in his starting XI, his substitutions changed the balance of play. Sure, extra-time was assured by late strikes from Robert Lewandowski and – in injury time – Thomas Muller, but subs Thiago and Kingsley Coman (who set up the equaliser) finished the job from the bench.
On balance, progress is not undeserved for Bayern – the first 60 minutes in Turin and the final flourish in Munich are worthy of champions. Perhaps the fortune was earned. But the glaring weaknesses cannot be glazed over. The errors cannot be forgotten - must not be glossed over - by one magnificent hour in Turin.
Ordinary teams are punished by such errors. Bayern so nearly were. But this is no ordinary team.
- Goal