The game: 1-1
It’s an explosion, an earthquake that hit the Champions League. While he was one of the big favorites, Bayern Munich already said goodbye to the competition on Tuesday evening. Largely dominated in the first leg (0-1), unable to definitively break the Spanish lock on the return (1-1), the German club ultimately deserved no better against an incredible Villarreal team.
Julian Nagelsmann wanted ” to punish “ Spanish education? It was the Munich coach who was punished for believing his side would make short work of his opponent, as was the case with RB Salzburg (1-1, 7-1) in the previous round. Driven by a finally full Allianz Arena, Bayern always pushed through, Villarreal always defended intelligently, giving this encounter the atmosphere of Manchester City-Atletico de Madrid.
Symbolizing the difficulty of being dangerous in the first period, Bayern had only boxed a shot before half-time, but perhaps thought it had done the hardest when the inevitable Lewandowski found the foul (1-0.52nd). Müller then missed an incredible opportunity, only with a header from close range (71st), Villarreal started posting some banderillas and everything changed at the end of the match when Chukwueze, after an excellent counterattack, put down the ogre Munich (1-1 , 88th ). Already beaten by Juventus (1-1, 3-0), Villarreal is huge.
The player: Lewandowski, the 13 of the accident
A huge tifo in memory of Gerd Müller had been launched in the Allianz Arena before kick-off and Robert Lewandowski paid tribute to the “Bomber” in his own way. Unable to find fault, Bayern trusted their modern shooter to believe in their fate when the striker, who was found by Müller after a play started by a poor Spanish recovery, handed his formation over to the site of a light from direction changed shot from the right (1-0, 52nd). The German champion believed in it more than ever. But the Pole’s thirteenth performance in the event this season was ultimately in vain for the people of Munich.
The fact: Villarreal, 16 years later
At the final whistle, he jumped for joy, as usual at great moments, and we can understand that. For the first time, Unai Emery will play in the semi-finals of the Champions League and the Spanish coach can be proud of his team’s performance, first solid, then heroic and then effective to close. Thanks to this clearly laid out game plan, the winner of the last Europa League will be present in the last four of the C1, a phase of the competition that the Yellow Submarine had not reached since the 2005-2006 season.
6
Bayern have been eliminated the last six times that they lost the first leg in the knockout phase of the Champions League.
