Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola’s quest to deliver Champions League glory as his leaving gift before joining Manchester City in the summer was destroyed as Atletico Madrid progressed from Tuesday’s semi-final second leg on away goals.
Advertisement
Arturo Vidal was unable to hide his disappointment at Bayern Munich’s Champions League semi-final defeat by what he called an “ugly” Atletico Madrid.
Bayern came into the second leg at the Allianz Arena trailing 1-0 from the first leg but Xabi Alonso levelled the tie on aggregate with a deflected free-kick just after the half hour.
Both sides missed penalties, with Jan Oblak denying Thomas Muller in the first half, and Manuel Neuer preventing Fernando Torres from dealing a killing blow.
Bayern were still unsafe and Robert Lewandowski headed them back into the lead on the night as they chased a crucial third goal.
Diego Simeone’s Atletico, who can still win La Liga this season, eliminated Champions League holders Barcelona in the last round and their win over Bayern, who were chasing a treble, will further boost their confidence going into the final. “I worked for the players, not for a track record”.
“It’s a pity that we couldn’t reward ourselves and the coach for the last three years”, Lahm said.
“It’s hard to accept, because we had deserved the win”, said Lewandowski after Bayern failed to score a crucial third goal.
“This Champions League is spectacular, very hard”.
However, Atletico were awarded a controversial penalty when Torres, seemingly just outside the area, was tripped by Martinez only for the striker to see his spot-kick palmed away by Neuer. “We’ve knocked them out, and I’m very proud of that”. The first half was fantastic and we had little response to the situations they generated. It’s not over yet, we still have a chance.
“Now we have beaten three of the strongest teams in Europe”.
Advertisement
Moments later Gimenez was in the thick of the action again for the wrong reason as he tugged back Javi Martinez to give away a spot-kick. We need to make sure we play as a team and as a club.
