Nyaris Tak Terkalahkan, Bayern Munchen Ternyata tidak Sempurna
At Long Last, Bayern Shows It`s Not Perfect
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
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Munich (B2B) - Pada pertandingan yang bisa disebut adu gengsi di Allianz Arena, Bayern Munchen gagal mengungguli tamunya Manchester City setelah kalah dengan skor 2-3.
Dengan demikian Bayern juga gagal mengakhiri rekor tiga kali menang tandang klub-klub Inggris atas klub-klub Jerman di fase grup musim ini. Tiga klub Inggris sebelumnya selalu menang tandang dengan mencetak sembilan gol tanpa satu pun kebobolan.
Kekalahan ini juga mengakhiri rekor menang 19 kali Bayern dalam 21 laga terahirnya di kancah Liga Champions, sekaligus memutus kemenangan 10 kali berturut-turutnya di ajang ini, seperti dilansir BBC.
Dalam pertandingan yang berjalan relatif seimbang ini, Bayern sempat memimpin 2-0 sampai 28 menit babak pertama.
Thomas Muller menciptakan gol pertama Bayern pada menit 5 setelah menerima umpan silang dari Dante dengan mengontrolnya lewat dada dan kemudian melepaskan tembakan keras yang tak bisa ditahan Joe Hart.
7 menit kemudian, Mario Gotze mengubah kedudukan menjadi 2-0 usai memanfaatkan bola mental dari Mario Mandukic yang ingin memaksimalkan kiriman bola dari tendangan penjuru Toni Kroos.
City bangkit untuk mengejar ketinggalan, dan baru memperkecil kedudukan pada menit 28 lewat David Silva yang mengakkhiri pergerakan cantik Jesus Navas dan James Milner yang sempat berusaha dihadang Dante.
Kedudukan 2-1 bertahan sampai babak pertama usai.
Pada menit 59, Dante melakukan kesalahan dengan mengganjal James Milner di kotak penalti, dan City pun dihadiahi tendangan penalti.
Alexander Kolarov menjadi algojo dan sukses mengecoh Manuel Neuer untuk mengubah kedudukan menjadi 2-2. Ini adalah gol pertama Kolarov pada ajang tersebut sejak dia menciptakannya ke gawang Real Madrid pada September 2012.
Tiga menit kemudian, secara mengejutkan City berbalik unggul 3-2, setelah kali ini James Milner menciptakan sendiri golnya dengan memanfaatkan umpan silang Jesus Navas menyusul kerja apik David Silva.
Kedudukan 3-2 ini bertahan sampai pertandingan usai, tapi kedua tim tetap lolos ke babak 16 Besar yang memang sudah mereka pastikan beberapa pekan sebelumnya.
Munich - Manchester City staged a superb comeback to end Bayern Munich´s record run of 10 consecutive Champions League wins but they still finished as Group D runners-up behind the German champions.
Bayern were dominant early on as Thomas Muller struck from Dante´s pass before Mario Gotze scored following a corner.
David Silva pulled a goal back from close range after Jesus Navas´s cross.
Aleksandar Kolarov equalised with a penalty after James Milner was tripped before Milner´s fine finish won it.
It was an amazing turnaround from Manuel Pellegrini´s side, who almost earned the 4-2 victory they needed to go through as group winners as Alvaro Negredo had a late effort saved by Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
But after Bayern scored twice in the opening 12 minutes, the fact City fought back to claim an unexpected victory will give them confidence as they progress to the last 16 for the first time.
Although Bayern and City both finished with 15 points, the German side´s 3-1 win during the first group game in Manchester meant their better goal difference proved crucial.
Both teams had already qualified before this game but Bayern boss Pep Guardiola was clear that finishing second in the group - and thus facing a seeded team in the first knockout round - was "not an option".
But his team looked vulnerable as they suffered only their third defeat of 2013 with Silva and Milner excellent throughout.
It started with the Germans in imperious form as City looked nervous after an early a mix-up between Joleon Lescott and recalled goalkeeper Joe Hart.
And after five minutes the visitors were undone as Dante´s diagonal pass caught Kolarov napping and Muller nipped in behind the City captain to finish past Hart.
Hart had to save Dante´s header and turned Ribery´s effort onto the post after another Lescott mistake before Bayern went 2-0 up from the resulting corner.
Mario Mandzukic had time to shoot towards goal and his effort found Gotze, who also had space to stroke the ball past Hart from close-range.
By this stage, the only question was how many goals Bayern would score. Hart had made four touches, and two of them were to pick the ball out of the net.
Matters appeared to worsen when Micah Richards was replaced at right-back by Pablo Zabaleta after pulling a hamstring but the introduction of the experienced Argentine seemed to galvanise the visitors.
