Agence France-Presse
Munich, March 17: Substitutes Thiago Alcantara and Kingsley Coman scored extra-time goals as Bayern Munich roared back to beat Juventus 4-2 in their Champions League last 16, second leg and win 6-4 on aggregate.
In the other match played at Barcelona’s Nou Camp, the deadly MSN (Messi, Suarez, Neymar) combo scored a goal apiece as Barcelona won their second leg 3-1 against Arsenal and also advanced to the last eight with an overall 5-1 margin of victory.
But there was drama in the Allianz Arena here as hosts Bayern suddenly found themselves down 0-2 after 28 minutes as Paul Pogba and Juan Cuadrado struck for the Italians.
But just like in the first leg in Turin, when Bayern threw away a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw, the hosts fought back as Robert Lewandowski netted in the 73rd minute before Thomas Mueller’s dramatic equaliser in the 91st minute forced extra time.
Thiago came off the bench to put Bayern ahead for the first time on 108 minutes before fellow replacement Coman – incidentally on loan from Juventus – curled in a superb strike on 110 minutes to put the Bavarians in the quarterfinals for the fifth season in a row.
The fightback kept alive Pep Guardiola’s dream of bringing the Champions League trophy to Munich at the third and final attempt before his high-profile move to Manchester City next season.
Much had been made in the build-up about how vulnerable Bayern are on the counter-attack and Guardiola’s side was again found wanting on the break early on as Juventus went ahead with just five minutes gone.
The Italians fired a long ball down the right flank, David Alaba mistimed his clearance and right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner tapped the ball to Pogba who swept a shot into the net with Manuel Neuer out of his goal. Mid-way into the session, Alvaro Morata set up Juve’s second with a through ball for Cuadrado who calmly chipped it over an advancing Neuer.
But in the second session, Bayern played with more pace and Lewandowski pulled one back off a cross from Douglas Costa. And just when things appeared to have slipped out of Bayern’s hand, Mueller got the crucial goal, again a header off a Coman cross.