Villarreal stunned Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final with Samuel Chukwueze’s late goal sending the Spanish side through to the last four at the expense of the German champions.
The Spanish side led 1-0 from the first leg thanks to Arnaut Danjuma’s first half goal – in a game which they feared they may have come to regret not winning by more. Francis Coquelin’s goal was disallowed in that game over a narrow offside decision while full-back Alfonso Pedraza blazed a glorious late chance wide of target.
The first half in Munich was somewhat of a non-event with the Yellow Submarine entirely snubbing out the attacking threat from the hosts. However, Bayern played with a different intensity and purpose after the break and Lewandowski broke the deadlock in the 49 th minute. However, a direct counter-attack from the visitors in the 89 th minute culminated in Gerard Moreno’s threaded ball through to substitute Chukwueze – whose shot beat Manuel Neuer and decided the tie.
Mirror Football looks at the five talking points from a tense, dramatic night in Munich.
Villarreal stun Europe again
The Yellow Submarine won last season’s Europa League title having stunned Arsenal and then Manchester United in the latter stages of the competition. They were seventh in La Liga last season and that is their position again – yet their campaign in continental football has been even better.
Unai Emery had shocked Juventus in the Round of 16 and has now gone one better by eliminating Bayern Munich – who many believed to be among the favourites for this competition. This was another European masterclass by the relatively small Spanish club – who continue to make their own history.
Lewandowski record ends
No player has a Champions League record as impressive as Robert Lewandowski. The Poland international had won a competition record 22 consecutive matches in which he had featured for Bayern, prior to the Round of 16 first leg draw away to Salzburg. Last week’s loss in Spain was his first loss in 25 games in the competition.
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The Poland international marksman was badly missed for Bayern in last season’s elimination against Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight – showing how significant he has been for the German champions in recent years. Lewandowski plundered 13 goals in the competition this season and had been aiming to replicate his stunning return of 15 in the successful 2019/20 campaign. He won't be able to match that this time - despite his goal on the night - as he has featured in just one win in his last four in the Champions League after his stunning record.
Bayern go gung-ho
In the absence of Niklas Sule, Bayern opted to play three at the back for this game with Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez either side of Dayot Upamecano. Full-back Alphonso Davies was left out of the starting line-up, allowing an extra creative player to go up against Villarreal’s deep block.
Of their 38 previous games across the Bundesliga and Champions League, Bayern had played four in defence in 31 of those games – with the switch the back three not the conventional setup of Julian Nagelsmann. While it may not be their usual approach, this was very much an adaptation due to their opponent – who played in a 4-4-2 with two deep banks of four to close down any spaces for creativity for the hosts.
This allowed Bayern to field all of Leroy Sane, Thomas Muller, Jamal Musiala and Kingsley Coman behind Robert Lewandowski, while holding midfield duo Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka could also offer an attacking threat – yet they couldn’t break down Villarreal.
Clinical Villarreal
All the talk after the first leg in Spain was about Villarreal’s stunning performance that sent shockwaves through Europe. It was a superb victory for Emery’s side but in reality, their advantage going into this return leg should have been much higher.
That outcome was always going to lead to a long and difficult night in Munich, in which the hosts would inevitably dominate possession and the opportunities with Villarreal knowing they would have to suffer. As Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann said after that first leg: “They made the mistake of letting us live.” As it turned out, Emery's team managed to do just enough over the tie as they became clinical in Germany - scoring from their one shot on target.
Emery the knockout master
Emery won all 12 knockout ties during his tenure at Sevilla, won each of his four at Arsenal and again triumphed in each of the four for Villarreal last season. The caveat to that was that each of those ties was in the Europa League, with Emery’s only previous Champions League experience being the underwhelming Paris Saint-Germain stint.
Yet the Spaniard guided Villarreal to the Round of 16 victory over Juventus, easing past the Italian club 4-1 on aggregate, before masterminding the first leg victory in Spain last week. Excluding that spell in Paris, Emery has now won 22 two-legged knockout ties across Sevilla, Arsenal and Villarreal – with this achievement his finest yet.
