Porto came in to the second leg of this Champions League quarterfinal tie with Bayern Munich with a degree of hope. They'd earned a 3-1 win at home in the first leg, pressing Bayern in to oblivion and hoping to find a way to hold on in Munich.
3 things we learned from Bayern Munich destroying Porto, 6-1
Bayern Munich secured a Champions League semifinal berth by utterly annihilating Porto.
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Then Bayern scored. Then Bayern scored again. And again. And again. And again.
So much for hope.
Bayern put five past Porto in the first half, and while the Portuguese side mounted a late comeback charge with a Jackson Martinez goal in the second half and a few dangerous attacks, the final result was rarely in any doubt after Bayern scored their second goal in the 22nd minute. Porto just didn't have enough left in the tank to mount a real challenge on Bayern's lead, and once Marcano went off in the 86th minute for a second yellow card and Xabi Alonso netted the resulting free kick, any remote chance of a comeback ended.
The 7-4 final aggregate score was, if anything, flattering for Porto, because with how Bayern played in this match, they could easily have scored eight or nine goals in the second leg if they hadn’t backed off the gas in the second half. As it was, their sixth served as an exclamation mark, and as a warning to whoever they draw for the semifinal round that they have deservedly earned a place in.
3 things
1. Bayern always had this - Anyone who doubted that Pep Guardiola and company were in any real danger of not advancing to the semifinals probably weren't thinking clearly. Pep is a master tinkerer, and he was always going to find a way to overcome last week's deficiencies and beat Porto. Now, not many people expected them to beat Porto quite that thoroughly, but really, was it actually surprising to see?
2. Porto abandoned their press and paid dearly for it - It was clear very early that Porto weren't going to be putting the same pressure on Bayern that they did a week ago, likely wanting to keep a better defensive shape against their host's attack. It was a gamble given how effective their press was in the first leg, and it's a gamble that didn't exactly pay off. With their center backs and Xabi Alonso actually given time to
3. Bayern won every matchup on the pitch - Every single individual or position group battle went Bayern's way in this match. Holger Badstuber vs. Jackson Martinez? Badstuber won. Rafinha vs. Yacine Brahimi? Rafinha won. Midfield? Bayern won. Bayern's front three against Porto's patchwork, defense-focused back four? Take a wild guess. Not only was this a tactical masterclass by Pep -- though he lost a battle with his pants -- the Bayern players all put in top-notch performances out on the pitch. It's almost like they wanted to take revenge for a certain recent result or something.
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