UEFA Champions League: FC Basel, Marseille Net Miracle Winners

Similar to the way they defeated Manchester United at St-Jakob’s Park in the group stages, FC Basel defended well, kept their shape and hit on the counter to defeat Bayern Munich in the Round of 16 on Wednesday. The Swiss champions are taking a 1-0 lead to the Allianz Arena, thanks to a late winner by substitute Valentin Stocker.

Perhaps both managers adjusted their tactics in the locker room, because the second half was considerably more open. Things probably changed for the worse for Bayern in the 71st minute, when Thomas Müller came on for Ribery. He looked like he was limping as he came off, and an injury would be the only explanation for Ribery’s substitution. He was the best player on the pitch by some distance.

Ninety minutes in, it seemed as though Inter had got the draw they were playing for, despite continual pressure from Marseille. The visitors had defended well all evening, refusing to allow the Ligue Un team much of a sniff at Julio Cesar’s goal, but in the 92nd minute Andre Ayew forced the veteran keeper into a good save then nodded the resultant corner into the back of the net. It was virtually the last kick of the game, and it condemned Inter to yet another loss. Marseille know that they can advance now - an away goal at the San Siro will see them in very good stead to get to the quarterfinals.

FC Basel and Bayern Munich have put on a show in the first half at St-Jakob’s Park by creating all kinds of chances, but they have somehow gone into the break tied 0-0. Both teams have had plenty of chances to score that they haven’t been able to take, and though something like 2-2 might have been the score that best reflected what happened on the pitch, a draw is a fair reflection of what’s happened so far.

Three minutes later, following a fantastic run and pass by left back Park Joo-Ho, Streller hit the crossbar from 12 yards out. That would be the last of the clear-cut chances for Basel, as Bayern would look like the better side for the remainder of the first half.

Substitutes: Massimo Colomba, Philipp Degen, Radoslav Kovac, Valentin Stocker, Cabral, Stephan Andrist, Jacques Zoua

Substitutes: Hans-Jorg Butt, Danijel Pranjic, Luiz Gustavo, Can, Nils Petersen, Ivica Olic, Thomas Mueller

FC Basel pulled off a spectacular upset of Manchester United to get into the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League, and the draw was not kind to them. Basel up against Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, and will be massive underdogs in this tie just like in the club’s matches against United, where they came away with four points and avoided defeat on both occasions.

The biggest storyline coming into this match is that Basel’s biggest star, winger Xherdan Shaqiri, is going up against his future team. Bayern has already agreed to buy Shaqiri for €10 million and he will join the team in June. Shaqiri has been one of the hottest properties in football for a couple of years, and it was a bit of a coup for Bayern to get him at such an inexpensive fee.

For his part, Marseille manager Didier Deschamps isn’t looking past Inter.

“They are a team that is not playing well at the moment,” Deschamps told L’Equipe. “I have seen their previous matches on television and there have been lots of individual defensive mistakes.