In what will be remembered as one of the Champions League’s greatest games, Bayern Munich overcame a determined Fiorentina in Florence to advance thanks to the away goals rule.
The score? 4-4 on aggregate after one of the most riveting exchanges of firepower seen.
In London, Arsenal saw a goat become hero as Nicklas Bendtner’s first career hat trick led the Gunners past FC Porto by an astonishing 5-0 scoreline (and 6-2 on aggregate).
Three goals in eight minutes turned what looked like a season-saving win for Fiorentina into abject despair at the hands of a Bayern team that has not lost since November.
Bayern certainly came to play its usual game in Florence but the Germans unwittingly were doing Fiorentina a favor for much of what turned out to be a memorable second leg.
The Viola aren't exactly a typical Serie A side — perhaps that's the reason they are very average in their own league — but tonight they demonstrated that they can play the Italian counter-attacking style very well, thank you, and can throw numbers down the middle for good measure. That devil-may-care style gave them the first foot and had their supporters believing for more than an hour.
The opening goal from Juan Vargas was a piece of individual brilliance that might have looked like it came out of nothing. Yet, it highlights how Fiorentina was absorbing, blunting the Bayern quick pass-and-go game with defenders willing to attack the ball and midfielders dropping in numbers to clog things up.
So, when Marco Marchionni let fly from all of 35 yards, a simple counter down the middle proved to have such venom that Butt couldn't do anything more than parry at his right-hand post. There was Vargas, beating Daniel van Buyten to the rebound and flashing an instinctive, so-lovely first-time drive to the far top corner.
For all of Bayern's probing and invention it was the Italians who looked sharper for that opening hour, especially with Marchionni and Vargas available as front-runners even if the more-fancied Alberto Gilardino was quite effectively blanketed by the German central defense.
Bayern was also hampered by losing Mario Gomez in the first half hour to injury.
But even with such a handicap, it was stunning to see the Viola nearly finished Bayern off just five minutes after the restart: Gilardino, however, could not profit when a cross from the right eluded two defenders and fell just slightly behind him. The result was a weak shot that Butt blocked with his legs, a miss that would ultimately prove costly.
Unperturbed, Fiorentina simply repeated the operation four minutes later and this time Stevan Jovetic sliced the finish well wide of the advancing Butt to make it 2-0. It was nothing but a deserved reward for Fiorentina's ability to push forward - they had done that much of the night in the first leg in Munich only to be denied so cruelly at the
end three weeks ago.
But Fiorentina's flair only served to rekindle the competitive fires of the visitors. As soon as the tie appeared lost, Bayern awoke with deadly purpose.
Miroslave Klose was denied by 'keeper Sebastien Frey just a minute after the second goal, then Van Bommel timed his approach perfectly to slam home what amounted to the aggregate equalizer.
That all-important Bayern reply came because - just when it looked like the grit of the Viola might carry the night - the Germans rediscovered their ability to make long, ranging passes that stretched a Fiorentina defense that had been allowed to remain compact for too long.
There was a price, of course, because this Fiorentina side never gave up. As they went forward, Bayern opened up the back and Jovetic, again, capitalized, meeting a header down into his path to slide the ball between Butt's legs.
Before the Viola supporters could digest their final moment of glory, Bayern struck with a goal that would crown any competition. Arjen Robben was the magician, cutting in from his right flank position, ghosting past two markers and unleashing a 30-yard rocket to the far top corner.
Frey could only fly hopelessly in that direction and Jovetic, celebrating at one end a minute before, arrived just a stride too late to perhaps wrong-foot the shooter. It was the second away goal for Bayern, and the one that mattered.
Those remarkable eight minutes of three goals were special, but it was the whole 180 minutes that were memorable. Fueled by great individual efforts that came within the context of team invention and quality, both teams demonstrated that the will to go forward and to live on the edge is the stuff of historic European nights.
This one will be remembered as a classic.
In London, it was a spectacle of a different order, as a rampant Arsenal seized Porto’s throat at the Emirates, belying any thoughts of weakness in this young London side.
After a series of devastating injuries that have kept Robin van Persie, William Gallas and Cesc Fabregas out of action in the biggest game of the season to date, Nicklas Bendtner was the unlikely hero, scoring twice early to put the Gunners ahead early, en route to a 5-0 win.
For the Danish striker, the game was redemption after a week in which his misses at Burnley had become a national joke. WAGs claimed his jersey number, 52, represented the number of chances he needed to score, and he was laughed off the pitch by the home fans on Saturday. All is forgiven in the wake of his first career hat trick.
The Dane’s first goal came following a collision involving Porto’s Helton, a defender, and Andrei Arshavin. Helton was laid out on the pitch, but Bendtner was home free and was able to easily slot the ball home. Given the tenor of his misses, even that chance couldn’t be taken for granted, and palpable relief accompanied the eruption of cheers at the Emirates.
If that goal was a bit lucky, or a bit harsh on Porto, the second was a thing of beauty. Arshavin danced through four Porto defenders to the byeline, sending a skimmer past Helton to Bendtner that could not be missed.
Arshavin was man of the match on a night when many feared the absence of Cesc in midfield could not be overcome, displaying the raw creative skill that many sensed had been dampened by injury. He was relentless, darting at Bruno Alves and Alvaro Pereira on the right flank and daring Nuno Coelho at stopper to collapse on him. So thorough was his mastery of Nuno that Jesualdo Ferreira was forced to remove him at the half for Rodriguez.
The kicker came from Samir Nasri, scorer of an incredible goal when he saw daylight between Helton and his near post, and seized it. Like Arshavin, Nasri rolled through four Porto defenders, and finished what seemed like an impossible shot. Eboue would add insult just three minutes later, and a late penalty attempt would be sunk by Bendtner to round out his night.
Aside from a brief flurry at the start of the second half, Porto did little. So dominant a fortnight ago against an out-of-sorts Arsenal side, they stood revealed as second-class. Hulk and Falcao did their best up top, but even against a fragile Arsenal defense, they were unable to do more than rattle 'keeper Manuel Almunia. There were to be none of the gifts they received at Estadio Dragao at the inept hands of Lukasz Fabianski.
Both Arsenal and Bayern now await their quarterfinal opponents. After this night, connoisseurs could be forgiven for hoping that they might be matched against each other.
Jamie Trecker is a senior writer for FoxSoccer.com covering the Champions League and European football.
