After 67 minutes, Manchester United were in the lead and dreaming of one of the biggest Champions League upsets ever. One minute later the lead was gone, and before the final whistle blew, Bayern Munich would add two more goals as they advanced to the semifinals with a 3-1 victory, 4-2 on aggregate.
Bayern Munich vs. Manchester United: Final score 3-1 (4-2 agg.), Bayern simply too much for United in the end
Bayern Munich came back from a short-lived deficit to see off Manchester United and advance to the Champions League semifinals.
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Despite early dominance from Bayern, it was Wayne Rooney who nearly had the best early chance of the match in the eighth minute. After bringing down a long ball on the edge of the Bayern area, Rooney was able to dribble past Jerome Boateng as the defender slipped, giving Rooney a clear line toward Manuel Neuer and the goal ... but he didn't shoot. Instead, he dribbled some more, allowed Boateng to recover and block the shot that finally came second too late.
Bayern’s first really dangerous chance came in the 14th minute when Arjen Robben retreated a step in the United box and fired a wicked ball that went just wide of the goal. Thomas Müller was making a run at the far post, but was a step late, missing a chance to potentially get a boot on Robben’s ball.
Antonio Valencia nearly shocked the Allianz Arena in the 17th minute, toe poking in a cross from Rooney past Neuer. The offside flag was up quickly though, correctly disallowing the goal.
For the rest of the first half, Manchester United seemed happy to keep nine or 10 men in their defensive area, frustrating Bayern’s attack and simply not allowing them any space to operate in the attacking third.
United opened the second half looking a bit more adventurous on the attack, which makes sense as they needed a goal to avoid elimination. Wayne Rooney was again unable or unwilling to shoot the ball after getting behind the Bayern defense on another long ball. Admittedly the ball took a high bounce, but rather than at least trying a volley, Rooeny tried a clever pass that was easily intercepted and cleared.
Then in the 57th minute, Patrice Evra scored one of the best goals of this season’s Champions League to put United up, 1-0. Valencia’s cross from the right wing found its way on two bounces to Evra who didn’t try to take a touch and instead uncorked a missile that hammered off the underside of the crossbar, silencing the crowd in Germany.
United’s elation was short lived though as Bayern answered right back.
A quick attack down the left wing in the 59th minute created the chance as Franck Ribéry raced into space before finding Mario Mandzukić in the middle of the United box. The Croatian striker went for a lower header, beating Evra’s foot to the ball, and directing it past David De Gea to even the match at 1-1.
Bayern had the momentum and looked like a different team in the wake of the goals, but they still needed one more to avoid extra time. Crowd favorite Thomas Müller stepped up and got that goal in the 68th minute, beating his man right in front of the goal, getting to a low cross from Arjen Robben, and poking it past De Gea to give the home side a 2-1 lead, 3-2 on aggregate.
With United pressing, needing one more goal, Bayern had more space to attack and Robben took full advantage in the 76th minute. The midfielder danced by Evra, cutting inside before sending a low roller that took the slightest of deflections of Nemanja Vidic’s foot before trickling past De Gea to put the match away for Bayern.
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Alaba, Dante, Boateng, Lahm, Kroos, Robben, Götze (Rafinha 65’), Müller, (Pizarro 84’), Ribéry, Mandzukić
Goals: Mandzukić (59’), Müller (68’), Robben (76’)
Manchester United: De Gea, Evra, Vidić, Smalling, Jones, Carrick, Fletcher (Hernández 75’), Kagawa, Rooney, Valencia, Welbeck (Januzaj 81’)
Goals: Evra (57’)
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