Bayern Munich booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals after blowing Porto away in Bavaria to progress 7-4 on aggregate, thanks to sensational displays from Thomas Müller and Robert Lewandowski in particular.
Pep Guardiola’s side trailed 3-1 after the first leg, hit by early goals and poor defending in Portugal six days ago and knew exactly the task that lay ahead of them in the Allianz Arena. It promised to be a tough challenge, with Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery watching on from the stands and Bastian Schweinsteiger only on the bench, but Bayern started brightly.
After a promising opening 10 minutes during which the home side moved the ball sharply, a through ball move sent Thomas Müller racing away for the first clear chance of the night. His shot was well parried away by Porto goalkeeper Fabiano, with Lewandowski’s follow up rebounding off the post.
The deficit was soon halved when Juan Bernat’s teasing and inviting cross from the left was nodded in from inside the six-yard box by the diminutive Thiago Alcantara. Bayern kept the pressure on and with just 22 minutes on the clock Porto’s lead was wiped out completely courtesy of Jerome Boateng’s header.
Taking no more than one or two touches on the ball, Bayern were near impossible to close down and Lewandowski scored the third just four minutes after the second – another header following a perfect touch from Müller to move his team 4-3 ahead on aggregate.
Porto were shell-shocked and the fourth was something of a slap in the face as a speculative effort from Müller took a cruel deflection off Bruno Martins Indi to divert the ball past a helpless diving Fabiano.
Bayern’s fifth saw Müller heavily involved again, outmuscling Casemiro in the penalty area and feeding Lewandowski. The Pole took a touch, shifted the ball to his right and fired a low effort across the goal into the bottom corner.
With the job well and truly done by half-time, Bayern began the second half at a slower pace, although Mario Götze might have done better with a chance soon after the restart, while Xabi Alonso went close from a free-kick shortly before the hour mark.
As the second half wore on it was very much a case of Bayern maintaining control, although with a little under 20 minutes to go Jackson Martinez’s close range goal did give Porto the tiniest glimmer of hope.
The Colombian then went close with another effort that could have made the closing stages rather nervous, but Alonso made it six with a stunning free-kick to cap off the night and end all hope any last fight-back.
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Rafinha (Rode – 72′), Boeteng, Badstuber, Bernat, Lahm, Alonso, Thiago (Dante – 90′), Müller, Lewandowski, Götze (Weiser – 86′)
Porto: Fabiano, Reyes (Ricardo – 33′), Maicon, Marcano, Martins Indi, Herrera, Casemiro, Oliver, Quaresma (Neves – 46′), Martinez, Brahimi (Evandro 67′)