The
next time Pep Guardiola feels the need to justify his continued
presence in Bavaria – and that time will come – he has some useful
numbers to roll out. As of Tuesday night, the most pertinent one
available to him is 115.
That
is the number of goals Guardiola's Bayern team have scored so far this
season, a number plenty enough to take them in to the last four of the
Champions League, the final of the German Cup and to the cusp of
successive Bundesliga titles.
It's
a funny game, football isn't it? People can grow restless, unhappy
even, pretty quickly. As Guardiola himself said on the eve of this
undressing of porous Porto, people are only happy here if Bayern win the
treble.
Bayern Munich's Thiago Alcantara jumps highest to head the home side ahead on 14 minutes and set the German giants on their way
Former Barcelona midfielder Thiago
races away to celebrate and clenches his fist after giving Bayern Munich
the lead on the night
Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng
scores the second header of the evening to double Bayern's advantage and
level the tie at 3-3
Boateng points to the skies in
celebration after the Germany international's goal gave Bayern the
initiative as they led on away goals
Robert Lewandowski made it a hat-trick
of Bayern headers on 27 minutes as the Poland striker powerfully nodded
the ball into the net
Thomas Muller shoots and scores to give Bayern an incredible 4-0 lead with 10 minutes of the first half still remaining
Muller lets out a roar in celebration
and is congratulated by fellow goalscorer Thiago as the Bavarians took
full control of Tuesday's tie
Lewandowski slides on his knees in
front of the Allianz Arena crowd after scoring his second goal of the
night as Bayern raced away
The Bayern Munich frontman is congratulated by Mario Gotze (left), defender Rafinha (centre) and Muller (right) after scoring
Martinez replies for Porto but the
goal was just a consolation as the Portuguese giants failed to stage an
unlikely comeback in Munich
Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso
bends the ball past the Porto wall to score his side's six goal of the
evening with two minutes to go
Alonso jumps in celebration and points to the sky as captain Philipp Lahm races over to congratulate the Spanish midfielder
Well,
despite the horrors of the 3-1 first leg defeat in Portugal last week,
that remains very much on and the statistics show that Guardiola and his
players have indulged in a fair amount of self-expression along the
way.
Guardiola
won't remember all the season's goals. He won't remember all of the
seven Bayern scored against Roma and against Shakhtar, the eight they
plundered at home to Hamburg or the six they put past SC Paderborn.
The Spaniard will remember the half dozen his team scored here on Tuesday night, though.
He
will remember them - especially the five that came in a brutal,
spellbinding opening half - because they will be set against the
background of last week's defeat and the disgruntlement that followed.
Questions were asked about his own future, Bayern's club doctor walked
out, slamming the door behind him.
By
half-time, though, those matters seemed rather distant already and that
is what brilliant football does. It makes people forget the small
details. That, in a way, is the whole point of sport.
Certain
Bayern's rather entitled supporters will have seen little better than
this over the years. Not just because of the quality of the football but
because of the context and because of the sheer hunger and monotonous
forward drive of this team.
'I knew my players could do this,' said Guardiola afterwards.
'But this was not perfect. We can still improve.'
Having
started so badly in the first leg last week – Bayern were two down
early– they needed to reverse things quickly. After 23 minutes they were
two goals up and, from that point on, the contest was no longer valid.
Lewandowski
had already struck the post when Bayern took the lead, left-back Juan
Bernat crossing to the near post for Thiago Alcantara to thump in a
header.
The
goal served to break the tension a little and as Porto failed to
settle, Bayern began a hypnotic and relentless journey through the
gears.
A
shot from Thomas Muller was saved by Fabiano soon after but that proved
a rare moment of competence for the Porto goalkeeper. He had a poor
night and was beaten for the second time midway through the half when
Jerome Boateng glanced a header in by the post after a corner.
At
this point, Bayern were already mathematically through. Porto needed to
score to maintain an interest but they were too skittish, too panicked
and too intent in arguing with referee Martin Atkinson to ever get a
foothold in a game that quickly galloped away from them.
Bayern Munich celebrate in front of
their delighted fans after overturning a first leg deficit to reach the
Champions League semi-finals
On the
touchline, however, Guardiola's greatest inconvenience was a split to
the seam of his suit trousers. As time wore on, he continued to instruct
his players feverishly. At times he must be exhausting to play for.
In
the stands here, meanwhile, Manchester City's football director Txiki
Begiristain looked on covetously as Xabi Alonso curled in a free-kick at
the death after the dismissal of Ivan Marcano. City, as we know, could
do with a man like Pep. They are not alone.
Porto duo Oliver Torres (left) and Martinez (right) look dejected as Bayern Munich stormed into a 5-0 lead at half time
Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola holds his head in his hands after a missed chance having ripped his trousers in celebration
Guardiola gives captain Lahm instructions on the touchline as Gotze, Thiago and Muller take a breather during a break in play
Porto manager Julen Lopetegui and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola - former Barcelona team-mates - share a joke ahead of the game
No comments:
Post a Comment