From great comebacks to goals galore and late drama, Bayern have provided their fans many magical nights at the Allianz Arena in the Champions League. And with their supporters behind them once again on Wednesday, Bayern are hoping for yet another huge European evening in Munich against Arsenal. Time for a look back on some of the most famous nights in Fröttmaning.
8 March 2023: De Ligt’s PSG clearance
There was a bit of backstory to this game in the 2022/23 round of 16. Bayern had famously beaten Paris Saint-Germain in the 2020 final to lift the Champions League for a sixth time, but the holders were then eliminated by the French side in the quarter-finals of 2020/21. The chance for revenge came two years later. FCB had earned a 1-0 win in Paris and would go on to score two more in Munich to advance to the final eight.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Serge Gnabry scored the goals in the second half, but perhaps the pivotal moment in the tie came in the 38th minute, when Vitinha looked like he was about to slot into an empty goal, only for Matthijs de Ligt to slide to the rescue and clear the ball away off the line. It was an act of salvation that was rightly cheered by the fans and set the Bavarians up to progress to the next round.
16 March 2016: Extra-time delight against Juventus
The 2015/16 Champions League quarter-final between Bayern and Juventus was not one for the faint of heart. A 2-2 draw in Turin had set up a huge second leg at the Allianz Arena, and it turned into a tumultuous affair.
Bayern got off to a horrible start and were 2-0 down inside half an hour after goals from Paul Pogba and Juan Cuadrado. Robert Lewandowski got the Munich men back into it with only 15 minutes of normal time remaining, before Thomas Müller headed in a 91st-minute equaliser that lifted the roof off the Allianz Arena. It took the tie to extra-time, where Thiago finally put the hosts ahead after a one-two with Müller. Then Kingsley Coman, who’d switched from Juventus to Bayern ahead of the season, then wrapped things up with a curling finish in the 110th minute. A 4-2 win on the night and joyous scenes in the stands.
21 April 2015: Fans urge on Porto thrashing
Things were just as tough going into the return leg of the 2014/15 quarter-finals, as Bayern needed to overturn a 3-1 deficit to Porto. Giving up was not an option, as the fans made clear to the squad ahead of kick-off with a now famous tifo inside the Allianz Arena.
The message from the Südkurve was evidently received as FCB picked apart their Portuguese opponents. The score was 5-0 by half-time and the tie over. Bayern shifted back a gear after the restart, and Porto got a goal back through Jackson Martinez, but Xabi Alonso then restored the five-goal advantage as the players and fans celebrated progress to the final four.
23 April 2013: Barcelona picked apart
Bayern had to clear some large hurdles en route to the 2013 final. Perhaps the biggest of them all was Barcelona in the semi-finals. With the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and more at the peak of their powers, the Catalans were the favourites as they arrived in Munich for the first leg.
However, Jupp Heynckes’s team produced one of the best displays ever witnessed at the Allianz Arena, dispatching the visitors back to Spain with a 4-0 thumping to all but settle the tie. Müller struck either side of goals from Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben as the Bavarian delight just kept on coming. A 3-0 victory at the Camp Nou the following week was yet another highlight of an unforgettable treble season.
25 April 2012: Gomez’s late strike against Real
The clock was approaching 90 in the first leg of Bayern’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Real Madrid in 2011/12. It all looked set to finish as a draw at the Allianz Arena, until Philipp Lahm delivered one more cross into the opposition box. It reached Gomez, who tucked home from close range to snatch victory for Bayern and send the crowd wild.
The importance of the goal wouldn’t be clear until the return leg in Madrid, which Bayern lost 2-1. Without it, the Germans would’ve been out. Instead, the right to feature in the final in Munich would be decided on penalties at the Santiago Bernabeu. Bayern held their nerve from the spot, including hero Gomez, to book their place in the Finale dahoam.
30 March 2010: Olic the poacher against United
Things were similar two years earlier, in fact, when Bayern faced Manchester United in the quarter-finals. Again, it was 1-1 going into added time as a draw looked imminent at the Allianz Arena. Then Gomez burst his way through the centre of the pitch in the 92nd minute but lost the ball on the edge of the box. The attack looked over as Patrice Evra attempted to calmly control it, only for Ivica Olic to appear from his blindside, pinch the ball and beat Edwin van der Sar in the United goal to snatch a 2-1 win that sent the Allianz Arena wild.
“That was my greatest moment in Munich. People still talk to me about it,” the striker told ‘51’ years later. In the same way that Gomez’s winner in 2012 was instrumental in reaching the final, so too was Olic’s finish to progress to the semis in 2010. For those who don’t remember, this tie is famous for one of Bayern’s ‘best’ defeats, as Arjen Robben’s volley at Old Trafford in the second leg helped earn a 3-2 loss – a result enough to advance on away goals, thanks to that late winner back in Munich.
7 March 2007: Makaay’s record strike against Real
A night that still holds a place in history, and that some fans will have missed, since it happened so quickly. Many had just taken their seats at the Allianz Arena for the 2006/07 Champions League round of 16 second leg against Real Madrid. And after just 10 seconds, the celebrations began. The visitors had kicked off, Roberto Carlos lost the ball, allowing Hasan Salihamidzic to race through and feed Makaay in the middle to put Bayern ahead.
It remains the fastest goal in Champions League history and was once again a pivotal moment, helping earn a 2-1 win to balance out the 3-2 loss in Madrid and advance to the quarters on away goals.
Go behind the scenes of Bayern’s first leg away at Arsenal:
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