Cruising towards a comfortable away victory against Juventus in the Champions League, record champions FC Bayern München threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 in Turin. But with two away goals, the Bavarian side will fancy their chances of reaching the quarterfinals going into the return leg in Munich on 16th March at the Allianz Arena.
World Cup winner Thomas Müller (43‘) opened the scoring for Pep Guardiola’s team with his 34th Champions League goal, taking him level with legend Gerd Müller in European competitions. Arjen Robben doubled the lead in the 55th minute, before Paulo Dybala pulled one back following a rare Joshua Kimmich error. Substitute Stefano Sturaro came on for Sami Khedira and scored the equaliser for the hosts, to extend Juventus’ European unbeaten run to 17 games.
Bayern dominant for 60 minutes
Khedira and Co. struggled to cope with Bayern’s attacking force and dominance in the first hour, with Bayern’s makeshift defence having very little to do. Captain Philipp Lahm, who made his 100th Champions League appearance, as well as Joshua Kimmich, David Alaba and Juan Bernat were only threatened by the occasional counter.
The “most interesting tie of the round”, according to Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, started with a chance for Juve after just 30 seconds, though former Bayern striker and 2013 treble winner Mario Mandzukic was unable to test Manuel Neuer.
Vidal starts in place of Alonso
From then on, FC Bayern took control of the match, with former Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal testing Gianluigi Buffon from close range. Guardiola’s side should have taken the lead through Müller in the 13th minute, but the Germany international lost his balance at the last second and was unable to guide the ball over the line.
Juve bounce back in the second half
The hosts may well count themselves lucky that the deficit wasn’t higher at the break, with Bayern dominating and creating several chances before Müller finally opened the scoring in the 43rd minute. After the break, the record German champions doubled the lead, with Robben finishing off a strong counter with a trademark curling effort. Lewandowski was unable to convert a header to make it 3-0, before Dybala broke free to pull Juventus back into the match. Both Cuadrado and Paul Pogba saw their chances for the equaliser denied by Manuel Neuer, but the equaliser finally came when substitute Sturaro fired in from close range to level the score.
The return leg takes place in Munich on 16th March at 20:45 CET.
Arsenal suffer 2-0 defeat at home to Barca
Germany international Marc-André ter Stegen got the better of his teammates and World Champions Mesut Özil and Per Mertesacker, as Barcelona beat Arsenal 2-0 in London. Lionel Messi scored both goals for the visitors in front of a sold-out crowd at the Emirates Stadium; the first assisted by Neymar in the 71st minute and the second coming from the penalty spot.
Good performance from Mesut Özil
As expected, the Catalan side controlled the proceedings from the beginning, but were unable to break down the resilient Gunners defence for long spells. The Spanish champions may have had more possession, but they were unable to convert their dominance into chances.
Indeed, it was the English side that had the best chance in the first half, when Alexis Sánchez tested ter Stegen. At the other end, Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech, who had never conceded against Messi until tonight, had little to do in the opening 45 minutes.
Barca pressed, Arsenal sat back
The second half offered a similar story – Barcelona stamping their authority on the game, Arsenal defending valiantly and breaking on the counter. Mertesacker and the Arsenal defence made things difficult for Messi and Co. but in the end it would be the Argentinean that made the difference on the night. His goals saw Barca extend their unbeaten run to 33 games, as they look on course to reach the quarterfinals for a ninth consecutive year.
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Cruising towards a comfortable away victory against Juventus in the Champions League, record champions FC Bayern München threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 in Turin. But with two away goals, the Bavarian side will fancy their chances of reaching the quarterfinals going into the return leg in Munich on 16th March at the Allianz Arena.
World Cup winner Thomas Müller (43‘) opened the scoring for Pep Guardiola’s team with his 34th Champions League goal, taking him level with legend Gerd Müller in European competitions. Arjen Robben doubled the lead in the 55th minute, before Paulo Dybala pulled one back following a rare Joshua Kimmich error. Substitute Stefano Sturaro came on for Sami Khedira and scored the equaliser for the hosts, to extend Juventus’ European unbeaten run to 17 games.
Bayern dominant for 60 minutes
Khedira and Co. struggled to cope with Bayern’s attacking force and dominance in the first hour, with Bayern’s makeshift defence having very little to do. Captain Philipp Lahm, who made his 100th Champions League appearance, as well as Joshua Kimmich, David Alaba and Juan Bernat were only threatened by the occasional counter.
The “most interesting tie of the round”, according to Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, started with a chance for Juve after just 30 seconds, though former Bayern striker and 2013 treble winner Mario Mandzukic was unable to test Manuel Neuer.
Vidal starts in place of Alonso
From then on, FC Bayern took control of the match, with former Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal testing Gianluigi Buffon from close range. Guardiola’s side should have taken the lead through Müller in the 13th minute, but the Germany international lost his balance at the last second and was unable to guide the ball over the line.
Juve bounce back in the second half
The hosts may well count themselves lucky that the deficit wasn’t higher at the break, with Bayern dominating and creating several chances before Müller finally opened the scoring in the 43rd minute. After the break, the record German champions doubled the lead, with Robben finishing off a strong counter with a trademark curling effort. Lewandowski was unable to convert a header to make it 3-0, before Dybala broke free to pull Juventus back into the match. Both Cuadrado and Paul Pogba saw their chances for the equaliser denied by Manuel Neuer, but the equaliser finally came when substitute Sturaro fired in from close range to level the score.
The return leg takes place in Munich on 16th March at 20:45 CET.
Arsenal suffer 2-0 defeat at home to Barca
Germany international Marc-André ter Stegen got the better of his teammates and World Champions Mesut Özil and Per Mertesacker, as Barcelona beat Arsenal 2-0 in London. Lionel Messi scored both goals for the visitors in front of a sold-out crowd at the Emirates Stadium; the first assisted by Neymar in the 71st minute and the second coming from the penalty spot.
Good performance from Mesut Özil
As expected, the Catalan side controlled the proceedings from the beginning, but were unable to break down the resilient Gunners defence for long spells. The Spanish champions may have had more possession, but they were unable to convert their dominance into chances.
Indeed, it was the English side that had the best chance in the first half, when Alexis Sánchez tested ter Stegen. At the other end, Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech, who had never conceded against Messi until tonight, had little to do in the opening 45 minutes.
Barca pressed, Arsenal sat back
The second half offered a similar story – Barcelona stamping their authority on the game, Arsenal defending valiantly and breaking on the counter. Mertesacker and the Arsenal defence made things difficult for Messi and Co. but in the end it would be the Argentinean that made the difference on the night. His goals saw Barca extend their unbeaten run to 33 games, as they look on course to reach the quarterfinals for a ninth consecutive year.
