What we learned as Bayern Munich advance in the Champions League after 2-2 draw with Benfica

It was a hard-fought match that ended with an even 2-2 scoreline, but Bayern Munich are the only ones celebrating after their Champions League match with Benfica. Thanks to their 1-0 win in Germany in the first leg, Bayern won their quarterfinal tie 3-2 on aggregate, thanks to goals from Arturo Vidal and Thomas Muller at either side of halftime in Portugal.

The match got off to a predictably slow start, with Benfica defending staunchly while Bayern utterly dominated possession, holding more than twice as much of the ball than their Portuguese hosts did in the first half. They had a hard time actually breaking Benfica down, though -- their hosts were doing a good job of disrupting Bayern’s buildup play, pressing high and keeping the Germans from being terribly effective at creating dangerous chances.

That resolute defense paid off in a big way just before the half-hour mark when Eliseu was able to pick out Raul Jimenez with a long cross into Bayern’s box. Both Javi Martinez and David Alaba failed to do much of anything to keep Jimenez from getting between them, and Manuel Neuer did -- well, what exactly Neuer was doing is a matter of some debate. But suffice to say it didn’t do anything to keep Jimenez from scoring, giving Benfica a 1-0 lead in the match and leveling the aggregate scoreline at 1-1.

That kicked Bayern into high gear, and unsurprisingly it wasn’t all that long before they responded with a goal of their own. After some heroics in goal from Ederson for Benfica, a particularly dangerous attack by Bayern saw a shot weakly cleared to the top of the box -- where Vidal was lurking, ready to absolutely hammer the ball home into the back of the net.

Between going down a goal in the tie and giving up an away goal, the wind seemed to get taken out of Benfica’s sails a bit. There was a noticeable drop in their energy level between Vidal’s goal and the end of the first half, and it wasn’t much better in the second half. That was most evident when Muller scored off a corner early in the half, when Martinez put a ball right in front of goal that the German attacker was able to practically walk onto to tap in.

From there, Bayern dominated the rest of the match, making Benfica look fairly helpless -- until Anderson Talisca stepped onto the pitch. The Brazilian attacking midfielder was given a chance at a free kick just outside the Bayern box not long after coming on as a substitute, and he didn’t waste his chance, beating Neuer to the far corner to bring the score in the match level at 2-2, though Benfica still needed two more goal to win the tie.

Those two goals would not come, and Bayern left the field in celebration. It was a brave and bold performance from Benfica, but it was not enough. They should be proud of how well they played and take this as fuel for future success, but in the end they’ll feel like they had a chance to do more in the Champions League next season. If Benfica can keep playing like this, though, they’ll be back here before long.

In the meantime, Bayern Munich are off to the Champions League semifinals, and the final in Milan is looking awfully close for Pep Guardiola and company.

Goals: Jimenez (27’), Talisca (76’)

Goals: Vidal (38’), Muller (52’)

Most would have expected Benfica to play a deep defense against a team as dominant in possession and attack as Bayern. That’s the usual response to their methods, after all, to try to compress their lines and put as many bodies between Bayern and the goal as they can. Instead, Benfica went with a high line and an aggressive midfield press, doing everything they could to choke off service from Bayern’s attackers while disrupting their attempts to build play from the back.

For a while, it even worked, and worked well. But then Bayern adjusted and found a couple of holes in Benfica’s method, and that helped lead to their first goal. Benfica didn’t have a response to the Germans’ adjustments, and that cost them the tie.

Benfica could have played much better on the day, but one player who cannot be criticized is Ederson. Their young goalkeeper had an astounding performance in goal to keep Bayern’s attack from scoring freely, making several remarkable saves and getting a number of more mundane-looking plays exactly right in order to keep Bayern at bay. Smartly placed passes, clearances put out for a throw instead of a corner, aiming his punched clearances away from supporting runs by Bayern -- all that and more helped keep Benfica in the game for as long as they were, and his quality saves were just icing on the cake.

Without Nico Gaitan (injury), Jonas (suspension) and Kostas Mitroglou (injury), Benfica’s attack was essentially gutted. Jimenez is talented and did what he could, but for much of the match he was essentially operating alone in Benfica’s attack with little creative support, and against a team like Bayern that’s just not enough. Without that crucial trio -- who represent more than 60 all-competitions goals between the three of them and the majority of the team’s attacking drive -- Benfica were going to have to play a perfect game just to have a chance to beat Bayern, and perfection certainly did not happen.