ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI HITS HAT-TRICK. BAYERN SCORE SEVEN TO ELIMINATE RB SALZBURG FROM CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.
Bayern Scores Seven At Alianz Arena To Proceed To Quater-Finals Of Champions League.
Bayern Munich have booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals in emphatic fashion, thrashing Red Bull Salzburg 7-1 at the Allianz Arena to secure an 8-2 win on aggregate.
Having only just salvaged a 1-1 draw in the first leg thanks to a last-minute strike from Kingsley Coman, Bayern were in no mood to give their opponents another shot at an upset here. They almost scored with a minute on the clock, Leroy Sane and Thomas Muller combining nicely before the latter set up Robert Lewandowski to force a low save from Salzburg goalkeeper Philipp Kohn.
Salzburg had some early chances of their own, Nicolas Capaldo seeing a shot deflected narrowly wide by Coman before Rasmus Kristensen menaced Manuel Neuer with a flicked header at the ensuing corner. That was as good as it got for the visitors in the first half, however, with a deluge of goals ending their Champions League dream before the game was even in full swin.
With 10 minutes on the clock, Coman landed a cross at the feet of Lewandowski in the box. As he turned to shoot, Salzburg defender Maximilian Wober kicked his standing leg and, with minimum fuss, he got up and sent Kohn the wrong way from 12 yards.
There was a sense of deja vu for Matthias Jaissle’s young side when, not long afterwards, Wober steamed into Bayern’s No. 9 on the edge of the area and, after a prolonged VAR check, the hosts were awarded another penalty. Other than a little feint in his run-up, Lewandowski scored a carbon-copy goal from the spot.
He completed his hat-trick within 10 minutes, a clever through-ball from Muller forcing Kohn to rush off his line. The ball ricocheted off Lewandowski’s shin, hit the post and bounced back out, allowing him to shovel in from close range.
Salzburg fell to pieces at that stage, retreating further and further towards their own goal and making a litany of mistakes. On the half-hour mark Mohamed Camara tried to dribble out from the back and lost the ball to Coman, who teed up the onrushing Serge Gnabry to lash a shot beneath Kohn.
Despite some temporary respite before half time, it got even worse for Salzburg after the restart. A spell of total dominance for Bayern ended with Sane picking out Muller, who duly made it 5-0.
Salzburg pulled one back with 20 minutes left to play, Brenden Aaronson bursting forwards and finding Maurits Kjaergaard, on as a substitute, who squeezed a shot into the top corner. It was a lovely finish from the 18-year-old and, on another night, it might have meant something, but as it was Bayern had long been certain victors and, with an air of inevitability, added a sixth and seventh through Muller and Sane before the game drew to a close.
