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Champions League QF: Porto stun Bayern Munich at home

PORTO 3-1 BAYERN MUNICH

In a shock result, Porto beat Bayern Munich 3-1 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter final on Thursday morning (April 16).

Porto coach Julen Lopetegui got one over his ex-Barcelona team-mate Pep Guardiola with Porto poised for their first semi-final appearance since 2004 when they won the Champions League under Jose Mourinho.

Lopetegui had said Porto needed to be the ‘perfect protagonists’ against Guardiola’s Bayern and they got off to a dream start as winger Ricardo Quaresma scored twice in the opening ten minutes.

The hosts rattled the German giants at Porto’s Estadio do Dragao and had the five-time European champions immediately on the back foot.

In the opening exchanges, Porto's captain Jackson Martinez pressed Bayern's midfielder Xabi Alonso into a rare mistake on the edge of the area and charged straight for goal.

Bayern's German goalkeeper, Manuel Neur brought the Porto skipper down, and after the referee pointed to the spot, Porto's Quaresma drilled home the third-minute penalty.

Porto doubled their lead when Dante took too long on the ball, Quaresma pressed him into a mistake and sprinted clear put the hosts 2-0 up after just ten minutes with a clinical finish.

 

It was Quaresma's fifth goal in three games for the 31-year-old Portugal veteran.

It looked like Bayern could be on the end of an embarrassing scoreline as the hosts’ slick passing was cutting through at will, but the Germans clawed a goal back on 28 minutes when Thiago Alcantara slotted home from Jerome Boateng’s driven cross.

It was the 23-year-old’s first European game for more than a year after back-to-back knee injuries and the first Champions League goal of his career.

 

An expected Bayern fightback failed to materialise, however, and the visitors were grateful to Neuer for pulling off a stunning fingertip save early in the second half to prevent Boateng scoring an own goal.

Bayern’s dismal defending cost them further when Boateng failed to deal with a high ball and Martinez stole in to round Neuer and sidefoot home.

Porto now carry a weighty advantage to Munich in the return leg on April 22 at the Allianz Arena.

Bayern have a glimmer of hope after their away goal, but they still need to score at least twice at home. 

Source: AFP, Reuters, Reddit

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