Munich - FC Bayern München sealed their place in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals thanks to a 7-0 home victory over ten-man FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the second leg of their Round of 16 tie.Thomas Müller settled any nerves early on by converting a fourth minute penalty after Olexandr Kucher was sent off for a foul inside the box, and, with Bayern in complete control of the game, Jerome Boateng added a second ten minutes before the break. Worse was to come for Shakhtar after the interval as Franck Ribery, Holger Badstuber, Robert Lewandowski and Mario Götze also got their names on the scoresheet, with Müller completing a brace.
First blood to Bayern
After failing to breach the Shakhtar defence in the goalless first leg, Bayern coach Pep Guardiola fielded an extremely attack-minded line-up at the Allianz Arena in an effort to establish an early lead. The strategy soon paid off as Götze was felled by Kucher inside the penalty area, leading to the Shakhtar defender receiving the quickest red card in Champions League history. Müller coolly slotted home the resulting penalty, his fourth goal of the current competition, to give the hosts a crucial lead.
Bayern were forced to reshuffle shortly afterwards when Arjen Robben hobbled off with a back complaint, but the game continued to be one-way traffic towards the visitors’ goal. Lewandowski almost extended the host’s advantage, only to see his back-post header come back off the upright, but the Pole was involved in the build-up to Bayern’s second. Controlling Müller’s headed knock-down, Lewandowski’s shot was blocked by Shakhtar keeper Andriy Pyatov, but the rebound fell to Boateng, who was left with an easy tap-in.
No mercy
Keen to avoid a nail-biting finale, the Bundesliga leaders went on the attack again immediately after the restart and were rewarded almost instantly. Ribery played a lovely one-two with David Alaba on the left-hand side of the penalty area, and upon collecting the return pass, the Frenchman slotted his effort into the far corner. Ribery was also involved in Bayern’s next goal just three minutes later, again cutting in from the left and forcing a save from Pyatov, with the ball falling kindly to Müller to stroke home.
Ribery limped off the field a short while later after taking a knock to his ankle, but if the visitors hoped that might bring some respite from the relentless attacks, they were very much mistaken. Holger Badstuber headed home is first ever Champions League goal following a pinpoint Rafinha cross before Lewandowski got in on the act as well, superbly controlling an exquisite pass from Bastian Schweinsteiger before tucking the ball past Pyatov. Götze rounded off a comfortable evening’s work for Bayern with a late finish following a counterattack, allowing Bayern to ease into the quarter-finals in style.
Line-ups:
Bayern: Neuer - Rafinha, Boateng, Badstuber (Dante 67’), Alaba - Schweinsteiger - Robben (Rode 19’), Götze, Müller, Ribery (Bernat 59’) - Lewandowski
Shakhtar: Pyatov - Srna, Kucher, Rakitskiy, Schevchuk - Taison (Krivstov 9’), Fred, Stepanenko, Douglas Costa (Wellington Nem 78’) - Luiz Adriano, Alex Teixeira (Ilsinho 70’)
Goals: 1-0 (Müller, pen, 4’), 2-0 (Boateng 34’), 3-0 (Ribery 49’), 4-0 (Müller 52’), 5-0 (Badstuber 63’), 6-0 (Lewandowski 75’), 7-0 (Götze 87')
Red card: Kucher (3’)
