COMMENT – The second leg of the four remaining Champions League round of 16 ties was played last week, and barring the one surprise, all the home sides coasted through. The surprise was Bayern Munich, and not a pleasant one at that. Across two legs, Bayern’s away goal lead from their first meeting with Inter Milan at the San Siro lasted a mere five minutes, as Eto’o ran through shortly after kick-off in Munich to slot the ball between Thomas Kraft’s legs and into goal.
Just like that, the tie was level. With this goal, Eto’o again went to the top of the scoring charts, now alongside Messi, and one goal in front of Bayern’s own scoring hero from the first leg, Mario Gomez. The Bayern hitman would get another goal here, and it was something of a repeat of the goal from the first leg. Robben cut in from the left and struck a clean shot to the far post for Julio Cesar to limply parry the ball away.
The height of the ball and the angle from goal required Gomez to be more dexterous than he was when poaching the first leg goal and the German was not found wanting. Mueller’s goal ten minutes later gave Bayern a two goal advantage, and the smart money was on the defeated finalists from last year to avenge their loss. Bayern coach Louis Van Gaal is a football romantic, and is an adamant advocate of attack-oriented possession football.
This is all well when the side get to keep possession and are not being hounded by opposition players, but things can go pear shaped very quickly if one does not have any real defensive options to call on. It is this last factor that was Bayern’s undoing. Van Gaal stuck to his guns in the summer and winter transfer windows, opting not to bring in anyone capable of shielding the back four well enough.
Worse yet, it appears his side were under orders to hold on to the lead they already had, rather than go for the kill. Ribery and Robben were tearing Inter apart down the flanks, and were creating several opportunities between them. To take Robben off at that time, just as the tie entered the final half hour, was not an inspired decision. Altintop does not have Robben’s tendency to run at and around defenders, and is more adept at passing the ball.
Robben’s absence on the left flank meant Inter had some breathing space to push forward from midfield, and Sneijder and Coutinho started to find some touches on the left for cross field passes. Sneijder especially was growing into the game as it wore on. So it was that Coutinho’s pass found Eto’o, and Sneijder finished clinically from range to set up a tense 27 minutes for Bayern.
The momentum had changed, and with Van Gaal still insistent on not shoring up his midfield, Inter pressed more and more. Eto’o was magnificent on the night, as he has been all season for Inter, and his incessant pressure on Bayern’s back four led to the calamitous defensive error that allowed him to set up Pandev’s winner. Bayern were left to rue plenty of lost opportunities as Ribery’s buccaneering runs on the left flank could not find an end product, while Inter have served a warning that they cannot be counted out at any stage.
This is a warning to heed for Schalke, who will now be with new manager Ralf Rangnick, in the wake of Felix Magath’s departure. Roma Coach Vicenzo Montella did not have a pleasant outing against Shakhtar when he took over from Claudio Ranieri, and I find it hard to believe Schalke will fare much better. Inter are the first team in over a decade to overturn a first leg loss in the Champions League, and they were not joined by Lyon or Copenhagen in this list, while Marseille’s hopes were buried at Old Trafford.
Manchester United were given a run for their money late on and that too by their own error, as Wes Brown’s own goal gave the Old Trafford faithful a nervous 10 minutes. Marseille sorely missed key front man Gignac in the first leg, but the striker did not repay their faith as he should have early in the first half when he shot high and wide after finding himself unmarked at the edge of the penalty area. Diawara’s header should also have ended up in the back of the net, and one could sense the match would go United’s way when Rooney’s scuffed shot allowed Hernandez to score a poacher’s goal.
What United need to take a hard look at is the defensive combination of Brown and Smalling, who appear to suffer from a severe lack of communication. With Ferdinand unavailable for a long time yet, Vidic’s return to fitness and form will be crucial for United’s aspirations both domestically and in the Champions League, where they will be spared no quarter by a Chelsea side who lazily strolled their way into the last 8.
Carlo Ancellotti insisted that Chelsea had already won the tie in Copenhagen, and he does have a point, when one considers that there are some very crucial matches to be played in the coming weeks. Real Madrid got over their Lyon jinx with an emphatic win at the Bernabeu that saw Benzema put in another great performance. The Frenchman has blossomed since Adebayor’s arrival earlier this year, and is actually the only real return Madrid have gotten on their loan investment in the Togolese target man.
Real are looking the part of Champions League winners, but their tie with Tottenham will not be an easy one. One can only wonder, given the form of Oezil and his ability to orchestrate the play with Di Maria and Ronaldo, how badly Real want the return of Kaka, who is still blighted by injuries. Oezil is going from strength to strength with every outing, and is clearly looked at as the man to channel all attacks through.
One hopes that he will not shy away from the challenge posed by Tottenham, who will be all too eager to smother any attempts at passing and dribbling by the young German. The last of the quarterfinals will be played between Barcelona and Shakhtar. Both teams have been susceptible to defeat on the road, but have returned home to dominate their ties.
The onus will be on Shakhtar to take the game to Barcelona, who themselves have only one style of playing. If the Ukrainians are anything less than perfect, this tie will not be the one to remember for Shakhtar defender Dmytro Chygrynskiy.
Champions League gets to last eight stage
