Bayern Munich overcome Juventus 4-2 in six-goal thriller to go through to quarter-finals
Bayern Munich overcame an indifferent start in the second leg of their round of 16 encounter against Juventus to eventually win the match 4-2. The Bavarians secured a place in the quarter-finals with a 6-4 win on aggregate.
Goals from Paul Pogba and Juan Cuadrado in the first half gave Juventus a 2-0 lead but Bayern fought back to score through Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller, the latter scoring in the 90th minute. The Germans then scored twice during the second half of extra-time through Thiago Alcantara and Kingsley Coman to clinch the tie.
The visitors from Turin started the match pressing their hosts high up the field in an attempt to force them into a mistake. They achieved their motive as a ball in behind the defence saw hesitation between David Alaba and Manuel Neuer, allowing Stephan Lichtsteiner to nick in. The ball reached Pogba, who scored without a fuss to make it 1-0 to Juventus.
Juventus then doubled their lead in the 28th minute through Cuadrado, the Colombian having been put through by Alvaro Morata, whose solo run created the goal. Cuadrado faked to let Bayern captain Phillipp Lahm take the bait, before finishing with ease past Neuer.
The German champions did not create much in the first half, their best chance coming when Thomas Muller saw his shot being saved by Gianluigi Buffon.
As the second half began, Bayern manager Pep Guardiola knew he had to change something and he did the same, pulling off Mehdi Benatia, a defender, to bring on Juan Bernat, who moved to the left full-back role. The team from Munich though, weren't able to create a lot. The next subsitution by Guardiola changed the game, as he brought on Kingsley Coman, a player on loan from Juventus, for Xabi Alonso.
The Frenchman's introduction added a lot of zip and pace to their attack, and he took turns along with Douglas Costa in trying to put good crosses into the box. One such cross from Costa found its way onto the head of Robert Lewandowski, who made no mistake.
The Germans then pushed on and got their equaliser in the 90th minute, a great header from Thomas Muller after some lovely work from Kingsley Coman.
The first period of extra-time saw both teams hold back as they sought to feel out each other to see how they would be approaching it. The second extra-time period saw Bayern push the tempo and look to attack more. They got their breakthrough, the all-important goal in the 108th minute through their final substitute, Thiago, who came on for Franck Ribery.
Soon after that, Coman finished off a lovely run with a peach of a curling finish to make the score on the night 4-2 securing the result of the tie and putting it beyond doubt. Bayern Munich deserved to go through on the balance of play after two legs, and though Juventus fought very well, the Bavarians were too strong in the end as they progressed 6-4 on aggregate.