Bayern Munich gave a masterclass in Pep Guardiola football as they progressed into the Champions League semifinals on Tuesday, blitzing Porto 6-1 to overturn their 3-1 first leg defeat. It was an utterly dominant performance from the Bavarians, who scored all but one of their goals in a breathtaking first half.
Bayern Munich vs. FC Porto 2015: Final score 6-1, Bavarians thrash Dragons to make semifinals
And we all expected this game to be close ...
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It was evident straight from kickoff that Bayern meant business. Afforded more time on the ball than they had been in the first leg, the Bavarians were ominously purposeful with their passing. It took them just 10 minutes to slice through the deep Porto defence for the first time, though Robert Lewandowski’s effort hit the post after shot by Thomas Müller was parried into his path by Fabiano.
The home crowd needn't have worried that it wouldn't be their evening. Within four minutes they were ahead, when a smart Juan Bernat cross was powered home at the near post by the excellent Thiago.
The floodgates had been opened, and Porto began to completely disintegrate under Bayern pressure. Jérôme Boateng headed a corner in for 2-0 eight minutes after the first, with some rather weak goalkeeping from Fabiano allowing it to sneak inside the near post. The goal meant Bayern were leading on aggregate, and that their visitors had to come out and attack.
Alas, Porto were completely and utterly incapable of doing so. Julen Lopetegui's side were totally shellshocked, and could barely string two passes together. Just short of the half hour, Bayern added a third, when some wonderful first-touch football down the right culminated in Lewandowski heading a Philipp Lahm cross beyond Fabiano for 3-0.
Lopetegui brought off his young makeshift right-back Diego Reyes in the hope of changing the momentum of the match, but it was all in vain. Müller added a fourth via a big deflection of Bruno Martins Indi, before Lewandowski completed his brace with a low shot that squirmed into the bottom corner inside the final five minutes of the half. At the break, it was 5-0 on the night and 6-3 on aggregate. The game was over. The only question was how many more would Bayern score?
It took them just seconds of the second half to go close to a sixth, though Götze volleyed just wide after a sliced Martins Indi clearance sat up right in front of him.
However, after a bad start, Porto managed to recover some dignity in the following few minutes. The halftime break had allowed them to regroup, and they came out after the restart looking considerably more disciplined without the ball. Nevertheless, Bayern continued to dominate possession, and comfortably dictated proceedings from inside Porto’s half.
Chances were few and far between as Bayern began to tire, and they were made to pay a price when Porto netted a consolation goal inside the final 20 minutes. Jackson Martínez got down to nod a Héctor Herrera cross beyond Manuel Neuer, though it was too little, too late for the Dragons to scare their hosts.
Their evening went from bad to worse inside the final four minutes of normal time, when Iván Marcano was sent off for a second bookable offence. Xabi Alonso curled the subsequent free-kick straight into Porto's top corner, erasing all memory of his awful performance in the first leg.
Bayern Munich: Neuer; Bernat, Badstuber, Boateng, Rafinha (Rode 72’); Thiago (Dante 90’), Alonso, Lahm; Götze (Weiser 86’), Lewandowski, Müller.
Goals: Thiago (14’), Boateng (22’), Lewandowski (27’, 40’), Müller (36’), Xabi Alonso (88’).
Porto: Fabiano; Martins Indi, Marcano, Maicon, Reyes (Pereira 33’); Óliver, Casemiro, Herrera; Brahimi (Evandro 67’), Martínez, Quaresma (Neves 46’).
Goals: Martínez (73’).
Red cards: Marcano (87’).
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