Manchester United gave title holders Bayern Munich a real scare, before the Germans found their mojo yet again to pull off a come-from-behind 3-1 victory which saw them through to the semifinals of the Champions League 4-2 on aggregate.
Bayern were in real trouble of being dumped out by United when Patrice Evra scored for the away side in the 57th minute. However, Mario Mandzukic answered back immediately for Bayern, equalling the tie on the day and on aggregate, before Thomas Muller, in the 67th minute, and Arjen Robben, nine minutes later, put the game to bed.
"When you are a schoolboy you get told make sure when you score you don't concede straight away, we conceded too quickly," United manager David Moyes said. "It was always going to be a tough night and once we got the first goal we had to give ourselves five or ten minutes where we could stop them getting the ball but from the kick-off they went up the pitch and scored.
"I don't know whether it was a bit of concentration, thrilled we got the goal but we have got enough experience on the pitch where we should have done it - but they didn't do an awful lot wrong tonight, I thought the players played over so well and I was pleased with the performance and just a couple of small errors that cost us in the end.
"I never thought we were out the game, I always thought we were in with a chance and at 2-1 we needed just to get that goal to get back to 2-2, but that third goal killed us, and I thought that was a bit of bad luck."
Bayern manager Pep Guardiola, who was rather frustrated after the first leg result at Old Trafford, which finished 1-1, and would have been fearing the worst a few minutes into the second half, was a relieved man after seeing his side fight back with great effect against a determined United side.
"The game was very similar to the first leg in Manchester," Guardiola said after the win on Wednesday night. "Arjen and Franck [Ribery] were fantastic in the second half today. We tried to play in between the lines with Thomas constantly on the move.
"But it is never easy against an English team. They play solid and quick counterattacking football and offer very little space to play into. Evra scored a great goal for the opener, but we responded immediately. I am very, very proud of my team."
Watch the short highlights of the Bayern Munich vs Manchester United Champions League quarterfinal second leg match HERE.
