Alaba's rapid start and Bayern's class ensure victory against Juve

It was a precursor to the Champions League triumph in 2013: having almost blown a two-goal first-leg advantage against Arsenal in the last 16 a few weeks earlier, Bayern quashed any doubts that the trophy was heading to Munich this year. It’s seven years to the day since the 2-0 win over Juventus in the first leg of their quarter-final meeting, when the Reds dominated the Italian record champions from minute one.

“We can be very happy, not just with the result but also with the way we played. It was our best performance in this Champions League campaign,” said Karl-Heinz Rummenigge after the final whistle. At this stage, the chairman could only guess how far his team would go in the competition.

Dream start after 26 seconds

There wasn’t even half a minute on the clock when David Alaba set the tone for the rest of the match. The hosts’ high pressing immediately paid dividends as they won possession and the Austrian smashed the ball into the net from around 30 metres out, with the help of a slight deflection from future Bayern man Arturo Vidal.

Bayern deal brilliantly with Kroos blow

The home side created chance after chance after that, and even a serious injury to Toni Kroos – a double muscle bundle tear put an end to the Germany international’s season – did not throw them off course. Substitute Arjen Robben injected impetus into the match as the Munich men continued to pin Juve back in their own half.

Müller nets killer second goal

All the action was taking place in the Juventus half, but it took until the 63rd minute before Thomas Müller let Bayern breathe easy. After Luiz Gustavo’s long-range shot was only pushed to the side by Juve's goalkeeping legend Gianluigi Buffon, Mario Mandžukić snapped up the loose ball and played it unselfishly to the unmarked Müller, who tapped in the second goal.

Despite continuing to create good chances, a third goal eluded the German record champions. “It’s a shame we didn’t score the third goal,” said Philipp Lahm later, before making what proved to be a telling prediction: “We’re in a good position. Maybe 2-0 is better than 3-0 because we’ll remain focussed.”

The best images from an impressive performance against Juve:

Marching to the title

The Bayern captain turned out to be right. Jupp Heynckes’ side won 2-0 again in the second leg in Turin, before two magnificent displays against Barcelona saw them into the final at Wembley, where Bayern claimed Europe’s crown for the fifth time courtesy of a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund.

You can read more about the semi-final and the all-German final in our look back at Bayern’s most legendary knockout matches from the last decade: