After this great Champions League evening against Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, the celebrated “Super-Bayern” were just bursting with confidence. “I don’t see anyone who is stronger,” stated club president Herbert Hainer fervently when looking at the competitors for the most valuable club title in Europe. While the Munich stars disappeared into the night with happy expressions after the confident quarter-finals, Messi and Mbappé slipped away on the Allianz Arena pitch, just as inconspicuously as in the 90 minutes before. “You can see that you can’t do everything with money alone,” said Hainer. In the happy feeling of victory it was a bit of a dig at PSG, who were well fed from Qatar.
The 1-0 in the first leg was followed by a tactically mature 2-0 in the second leg in front of 75,000 spectators on Wednesday evening. With a convincing victory, they “flown” into the quarter-finals, captain Thomas Müller rejoiced. Coach Julian Nagelsmann hopes that the appearance against PSG is a blueprint for other big tasks for Munich this season. “If we combine maximum greed and emotionality with the quality we have, then we can achieve anything,” said the 35-year-old after a success that was also very important to him personally. “I’m happy to be in the same boat that was rowed faster than Paris today.”
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (61st minute) and Serge Gnabry (89th) documented the difference with their goals in the replay of the 2020 final. At least as remarkable was the defensive performance of Munich. The team performance was “clearly” the key to success, said sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic and referred to an “outstanding second half”. Nagelsmann gave special praise for the defensive line in Paris. Croatian full-back Josip Stanisic “made a world-class game with the other two,” said Nagelsmann. By that he meant Dayot Upamecano and Matthijs de Ligt. The Dutchman prevented Vitinha from going behind before the break with a tackle on the line after a mistake by goalkeeper Yann Sommer. For the seventh time in the eighth game of this premier class season, the Munich team kept a clean sheet.
The rescue was “incredible,” said Sommer. “I’ve already said it a few times, I’ll put a truck of Swiss chocolate in front of his front door because he’s a great thinker.” The injured national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer also cheered in the stands after de Ligt’s important tackle. But the road to the final on June 10 in Istanbul is still a long way off. The quarterfinals as the next station will be drawn on March 17th. In addition to Bayern, Chelsea FC, AC Milan and Benfica Lisbon have all qualified so far.
