Bayern Munich 1-3 (1-3 on agg.) Liverpool
What a time to score your first Champions League goal!
Virgil van Dijk has proved Liverpool’s best signing for many a year, and here was just another example of paying off the fee which made him the world’s most expensive defender.
Make no mistake either, SBOBET fans. This was a thoroughly deserved victory for the Merseysiders – last year’s competition runners-up.
Two goals either side of Van Dijk’s crucial intervention provided two more Champions League 2019 highlights for Liverpool against hosts who had run out of ideas before the end.
With half of the quarter-finalists from the most wealthy league in the world, the Champions League 2019 betting odds on at least one all-English quarter-final increase.
Highlights of the game
Many people thought Liverpool had missed their best chance after the first-leg stalemate at Anfield.
How wrong they were.
A goalless draw at home nowadays is a much better result than many realise and, once Sadio Mane netted his and Liverpool’s opener after 26 minutes, all the pressure was on the Bavarians.
Bayern went into this game on form. They took over at the top of the Bundesliga from Borussia Dortmund with a 6-0 demolition of Wolfsburg on Saturday for their 12th win in their last 13 league games.
They were also attempting to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the eighth consecutive season, last failing at the last-16 stage in 2011 against then-holders Inter Milan.
Moreover, Liverpool had lost their past four away games in the Champions League (three goals for, nine against).
They have never lost five in a row in European competition, however, and still haven’t until now.
Mane opened his and Liverpool’s account when he showed expert touch and chipped the ball over the onrushing Manuel Neuer. A goalkeeping mistake or a world-class finish? In truth, a bit of both.
Munich were stunned and needed a quick reply.
They looked to striker Robert Lewandowski, with 23 goals in his last 22 Champions League games at the Allianz Arena (including nine in 10 knockout games), to provide it.
He would have done so had Joel Matip not poked into his own net with the Polish striker ready to pounce after Serge Gnabry smashed the ball across goal.
It was game on, and both sides had spells on top, knowing the next goal was key.
Cue in Van Dijk.
James Milner delivered a trademark corner and there was the Dutch defender, unmarked, to power a perfect header beyond Neuer.
Previous Bayern sides may have asked questions. But this German team, with no Arjen Robben, are not the force of old. Gone are the days of the likes of Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Liverpool were in full control.
Six minutes from time, Mane sealed Liverpool’s place in the last eight, heading into the net from Mo Salah’s delightful ball with the outside of his foot.
It was fitting that Van Dijk ended the night as Liverpool captain for he, more than any player, has transformed Liverpool to genuine contenders for the major prizes.
A sweet night, too, for the man who placed so much trust in him, boss Jurgen Klopp.
He was in charge of the Borussia Dortmund side beaten by Bayern at Wembley in the 2013 Champions League final. His Dortmund side overcame Bayern 5-2 in the 2012 German Cup final – Lewandowski scoring a hat-trick – and won the Bundesliga title the same season. It was their second successive league championship, also beating Bayern in the German Super Cup in 2008, 2013 and 2014.
This was a happy homecoming, indeed.
Key statistics
There are now four English teams in the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time since 2008.
Munich have won only one of their nine matches in European competition against Liverpool (drawn five, lost three) – that came in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1971 with two goals from Gerd Muller and one from Uli Hoeness in a 3-1 win in Munich.
Liverpool and Bayern’s only previous encounter in the European Cup/Champions League before this season came in the 1981 semi-finals. Liverpool progressed on away goals (1-1 on aggregate) and went on to beat Real Madrid 1-0 in the final.
This was Neuer’s 100th game in the Champions League, becoming the sixth goalkeeper to reach that landmark after Iker Casillas, Gianluigi Buffon, Petr Cech, Victor Valdes and Oliver Kahn.
What’s next?
Bayern are back in Bundesliga action this weekend when they entertain Mainz. That is followed by a trip Freiburg immediately after the international break.
Liverpool are also in league action this weekend.
They travel to Fulham, bidding to return to the top of the Premier League. They then entertain Spurs at Anfield on March 31.
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