The Champions League quarterfinals got off to a roaring start tonight in Germany and France, with early goals setting the tone for what would turn out to be a wild night in the European Cup.
In Munich, Bayern were slow to awaken, but raged back to down Manchester United 2-1 thanks to a last-gasp winner from Ivica Olic. More worrying for United’s fans: Wayne Rooney was injured late in the game, and his status is uncertain.
At Stade de Gerland, Olympique Lyon cruised to a powerful 3-1 victory over a defensively sour Bordeaux side thanks to a brace from Lisandro and a gift to Michel Bastos.
Sir Alex Ferguson will be furious with his charges tonight after Manchester United seized an early lead, then failed to make it a foundation. United, unusually spendthrift, blitzed the Germans early thanks to a Martin Demichelis mistake and the presence of Rooney, then proceeded to drift.
Observers will wonder if this is the night that United’s age started to betray them. On the balance, the old warriors were outrun, outthought and outworked by a younger, less polished Bayern side. Adding to the sense of history around the occasion, with the win Bayern exorcised their European Cup finals loss in 1999, to this very same team, by this very same score.
It took just ninety seconds for Manchester United to capitalize on a Bayern Munich mistake, and it was especially cruel. Argentine defender Martin Demichelis, making a sudden return, and wearing a mask after suffering multiple facial fractures in a World Cup warmup against Germany less than a month prior, gave away a free kick in dangerous territory with a needless foul on Nani.
He then managed to fall over in the area on the ensuing restart, allowing Rooney to charge in unmarked and volley the cross home. Rooney, who could have headed the ball, displayed such confidence that he just plucked the ball out of the air with his left foot to poke it past a helpless Hans-Joerg Butt.
It was a dream opening for United and looked to be yet another sign of Munich’s fragility. Bayern, of course, has been skating on the edge throughout this season. They needed — and got — a devastating win over Juventus to get here, but have looked sullen through so much of this European Cup it was not unfair to question their desire. Once more, and only two minutes in, it looked over for the 70,000 fans at the Allianz Arena.
Instead, Rooney’s goal was a jab, not a knockout punch. And United’s failure to develop an effective combination in the middle would cost them dearly against a side absent Arjen Robben.
Bayern’s feared trident up top was missing tines — best shown when Olic missed what should have been the equalizer at the half hour mark — but Franck Ribery’s heroic performance more than made up for it.
Ribery displayed such ferocity, and prodded so relentlessly, his energy singlehandledly dragged Bayern back into the match. He benefited from Sir Alex’s decision to have the aged Gary Neville try to contain the Frenchman, a task that would have been difficult enough for a man in his twenties, much less the football equivalent of a pensioner.
And so, even with Scottish midfielder Darren Fletcher dragged back, Ribery could not be contained. Indeed, Munich should have scored in the first half, but for the fact that Ribery had no one to pass the ball to. Thomas Muller was useless up top and more than once, the French wizard looked disgusted as his pressure failed to be followed up.
That changed after the break. Bayern, with Louis van Gaal’s tirade ringing in their ears, finally began to outwork United in midfield and press van der Sar’s backline. Hamit Altintop, Olic, and, yes, even Muller roared forward and for a time it seemed as if Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic might be found out. Ji-Sung Park, marking Philipp Lahm right out of tonight’s game, proved to be vital in blunting what proved to be a quite predictable wave. And once the hour mark had passed, Bayern seemed spent both in ideas and energy.
But van Gaal changed the game with the insertion of Mario Gomez. Laid low by a calf injury, Gomez was only able to contribute twenty minutes in place of Muller, but that was enough. Gomez finally gave Ribery and Olic a true partner, and that kickstarted a relentless spell that exposed United’s midfield as second-best on the night.
First came Neville’s careless error, a handball that gave Ribery a free kick in dangerous territory. The kick was poor, but the irony was rich. It ricocheted off Rooney, and past a stunned van der Sar. With just over twenty minutes to go, Bayern had the momentum.
Then, the killer; Patrice Evra inexplicably dallied on the ball in his own penalty area during added time, allowing Olic to nick the ball from his feet, charge past Ferdinand and blast the ball home.
The goals were deserved. From the moment the whistle blew to restart the match, Bayern were the superior side and United, a step slower. In the first half it had been United’s dazzling ball-movement that made the difference. Not so after 45, and what edge they had was erased when the mercurial Dimitar Berbatov came on to replace Park, and promptly vanished.
This tie is not over: United’s away goal is massive. But fans in Manchester will be worried about their team that depends so much on Rooney. For he limped off the field in stoppage time, carrying what looked to be a painful injury.
In Bordeaux, fans will have questions about the man who did not play tonight. Is Alou Diarra really the glue who holding this side together? Or was their painful loss simply down to the fact that meeting both your archrivals and a finicky referee on the same night makes for indigestion?
The fact is that the surprise team of this Champions League season looked less like the bunch which once got the better of Bayern Munich and Juventus and much more like the one which sometimes made life difficult for itself against Olympiacos in the first knock-out round.
There were enough chances both ways that could have made the final score 4-3 or 3-2, but 'keepers Hugo Lloris and Cedric Carrasso were alert and fortunate in the same measure. As Bordeaux came much more into the match as an attacking force Lyon seemed to have spent a bit too much energy, but a harsh penalty decision with 15 minutes left may have undone all of the visitors' second half effort.
That said, Laurent Blanc's side has an away goal, played a much better second half and now sees the return leg at home next week. Bordeaux must figure out how to stop Lyon’s penchant for attacking from deep positions. It will also have to recognize that its flat defense was too often living on the edge against a team which alternates probing, long passes with some very good one-touch football close to goal.
Bordeaux’s smooth attacking through midfield was gone for almost an hour and the defense — missing the suspended Diarra — was uncertain against a league rival which seemed to know its opponent all too well.
Bordeaux was often on the back foot not through design but because of Lyon's ability to apply pressure in the midfield, stretching the Girondins out wide. And, after the interval Lyon dropped extra men deep to defend the gains made in the first half. Lyon also kept enough pressure on to create and eventually — with help from the man in the middle — got a reward that perhaps flatters them a bit.
But that should not obscure the fact that Lyon’s two opening goals came from equal parts good creation and slack Bordeaux defending.
Lisandro's elegant left-foot touch to Mathieu Bodmer's cross was worthy of praise, but the fact is that Bordeaux seemed to think blocking a free kick was all that would be required at the start of the sequence which saw them go down 1-0. When Lyon collected the rebound and offered nothing more than a high lob into the box, Bordeaux should have been safe.
Instead, Ciani misplayed his attempted clearance, Bodmer picked it up with room to attack and his cross left keeper Cedric Carrasso no chance on Lisandro's finish.
Bordeaux's quick reply is the reason this tie is still alive. Without much possession they still poached an early goal, with the combo of of Yoann Gourcuff and Marouane Chamakh paying off when they turned an innocuous chance into a score. Chamakh was alone to head home after Gourcuff turned Jeremy Toulalan around on the byeline before crossing.
Lyon's second came following the fine close-control build-up that flummoxed Bordeaux too often tonight. Miralem Pjanic's cross left Benoit Tremoulinas unable to rise sufficiently and Michel Bastos was free to drive it to the other post when the ball bounced perfectly to his feet. It was a dreadful bit of defending, and fine work by Bastos to get there.
Then, the penalty: Matthieu Chalme clearly knocked down a drive into the box, but it hardly appeared he knew much about it. German referee Felix Brych ruled that even though the defender was going down and was struck by the shot rather than reaching for it, a crime had been committed. Lisandro buried the penalty that may yet prove decisive in this tie.
The big question now is how does Lyon approach the next match? Lisandro will be suspended because of a second – also controversial — yellow card caution, but off the evidence there is no reason for Claude Puel to think defensively. His team plays best when going forward; deciding to protect what's already in the satchel isn't the way to approach the second act.
Bordeaux, of course, will welcome Diarra back. They should also take heart from the fact that though they found it hard to contend with Lyon's speed and strength at times, they did enough to prove that their deficit is far from insurmountable.
Gourcuff's dangerous free kicks and Chamakh's sense of where the openings are at the back were much more in evidence the longer the teams played. That, too, will make Bordeaux think that next Wednesday night is still worth waiting for.
Jamie Trecker is a senior writer for FoxSoccer.com covering the Champions League and European football.
