Bayern Munich fought back with a deflected own goal and a late header from Thiago to claim a 2-1 win at Sevilla in an exciting Champions League quarter-final, first leg clash on Tuesday.
Pablo Sarabia had put Sevilla ahead in the 32nd minute when he got the better of Juan Bernat to control Sergio Escudero’s cross and fire home at the back post.
However, five minutes later Bayern levelled when Sevilla’s Jesus Navas agonisingly deflected Franck Ribery’s cross past home goalkeeper David Soria at the near post.
With Sevilla tiring, five-time European champions Bayern took advantage and Thiago headed the winner with the help of a deflection off Sergio Escudero in the 68th minute.
“Sevilla are a good team and it’s not easy here,” said Ribery. “We reacted well to going behind. You can’t make any mistakes, you always have to be awake.”
Experienced Bayen coach Jupp Heynckes said his team needed a slice of fortune to help turn the tide in their favour.
“Psychologically it was very important to equalise quickly, even if it took a bit of luck,” he said. “But if we want to win the Champions League we need to improve.”
Vincenzo Montella’s Sevilla were unlucky to go in level at the break, having had the better of the first half and demonstrating the spirit that saw them knock out Manchester United in the last 16.
Despite the absence of suspended playmaker Ever Banega, the Andalusians defied their underdog label and might have been awarded a penalty when Joaquin Correa was felled by Jerome Boateng but instead he was booked for diving.
Sarabia should then have put the hosts ahead but fired just wide after the ball dropped perfectly for him in front of goal.
The Spanish attacking midfielder made amends with the opening goal before Navas’s own goal levelled the scores.
Sevilla nearly found the net just after the break but Javi Martinez made a superb perfectly timed last-ditch tackle on Franco Vazquez in the area to snuff out the chance.
After that the hosts ran out of steam and Soria had to make a fine save to deny Martinez before Thiago got the winner with a downward header that was deflected from another Ribery cross.
“The team are a bit hurt, but we played against a great side,” said Sevilla midfielder Steven N’Zonzi.
Sevilla now need an unlikely triumph against the Germans in Munich in next Wednesday’s second leg to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the first time.
“We lost 2-1 and anything can happen in the second leg,” added N’Zonzi. “It’s 90 minutes, 11 against 11, we have a good team and we know it will be very tough, but anything could happen.”
In a related development, Juventus were left to pick up the pieces on Wednesday after being stunned by Cristiano Ronaldo’s overhead goal in their Champions League clash against Real Madrid, with questions aimed at their stalwart defenders and playmaker Paulo Dybala.
Utterly dominant in Serie A, where they are on course for a seventh successive title, the Turin side have been found wanting in their most recent meetings with Europe’s elite clubs.
They were hammered 4-1 by Real Madrid in last year’s Champions League final, beaten 3-0 at Barcelona in the group stage this season and then lost by the same score to Real on Tuesday in their usually impregnable Allianz stadium.
Juventus fans have been left wondering whether their team were just the victims of Ronaldo’s brilliance or if the Turin side have been flattered all along by their Serie A results.
Juve played well for about an hour of Tuesday’s quarter-final first leg, when only a Keylor Navas reflex save denied them an equaliser, but they were ultimately outclassed and grateful to be spared more humiliation in the final 10 minutes.
Perhaps the biggest question mark concerns playmaker Paulo Dybala, who was sent off for a high challenge.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri had promised a “great performance” from the Argentine but, not for the first time, the 24-year-old known as ‘The Jewel’ did not quite live up to his billing, despite a lively and confident start.
He sent two free kicks into the Real wall and squandered a Juve counter-attack by kicking the ball out because Real’s Dani Carvajal was apparently injured, even though the referee did not stop play.
SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES
Dybala also reacted to the slightest touches by tumbling dramatically to the turf, an unfortunate aspect of his game which tends to go unpunished in Serie A but which had serious consequences on Tuesday.
A studs-up challenge on Carvajal just after Real’s second goal saw Dybala given his marching orders after he picked up a booking for a dive in the penalty area in the first half.
Striker Gonzalo Higuain, often criticised for faltering in big games, was largely blameless but the much-lauded Juve defence, which seemed to revel under pressure against Tottenham Hotspur in the previous round, suddenly looked vulnerable.
Real scored their first goal with nonchalant ease when Ronaldo was left unmarked in the penalty area and defender Andrea Barzagli, 36, acknowledged it was his mistake.
Ronaldo’s overhead masterpiece would not have happened without an awful mix-up between talismanic goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and Giorgio Chiellini, both part of the Italy team which astonishingly failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup.
Buffon rushed off his line but Chiellini touched the ball away from him, allowing Ronaldo to intercept and start the move that ended with his amazing bicycle kick goal.
Buffon has kept the public guessing over whether he will continue playing after this season but doubts are beginning to creep in over the form of the 40-year-old and there are suggestions he should stop while the going is good.
Second-choice Wojciech Szczesny has arguably looked more solid than Buffon when he has stepped in recently
“I don’t know when Buffon will stop but, for sure, a champion must leave when he has no more passion for what he does, when he cannot improve or when he does not play,” said former Juventus and Italy forward Alessandro Del Piero.
(Reuters)
