Bayern Munich Win Over Lyon Takes Luis Van Gaal To The Champions League Final
It was a meeting of two underachievers in football, Lyon V Bayern Munich. Despite dominating the French league for the past decade Lyon have never progressed beyond the quarter final stage of the Champions League and despite winning the trophy 4 times Bayern Munich have recently been living in oblivion.
2001 was the last time Bayern lifted the most coveted trophy in football and they will have another shot at glory at the Santiago Barnabeau on may the 22nd, curtsey a mesmeric display of football at the Stade Gerland in Paris.
With the tie delicately poised at one nil in favour of the Germans not many would dare to write the French out of this tie but what followed was an emphatic statement of intent from FC Hollywood that they are finally back at the big stage and are not willing to budge.
In the Absence of their talismanic winger Franck Ribery Bayern were not expected to be flamboyant with their football but they proved that do not rely on the flying Frenchman to guide them through and have plenty of flare up their wings even in his absence.
It was a Croat who outshone the 21 superstars taking the field on Tuesday with an emphatic hat-trick that now sees his team just one step short of the ultimate prize in football.
Bayern’s four nil aggregate win speaks volumes for a side that has been living in the European shadows for almost a decade now although the end result was a bit harsh on the hosts as their inspirational captains was sent off for cynically applauding the referee, a decision that was controversial to say the least.
Bayern started the match brightly and should have been in front as early as the second minute when an Olic’s cross was fluffed by Thomas Muller.
But in the 26th minute Bayern got their goal and the Frenchmen were given a mountain to climb requiring to score three unanswered goals.
Arjen Robben played a lovely ball to Mullar who despite being closed down by two defenders squared the ball to Olic who finished with a slick turn.
And after the break the remaining bleak hopes of a comeback vanished when Cris was shown a second yellow for applauding the referee for a decision that he deemed to be unfair.
Lyon were down to 10 men but were still playing inspiring football and upped the tempo in search of the goals they so desired and made several efforts on the Jorg-hans-butt goal but only to be denied every time by the German international.
In the 67th minute the tie was made safe when a perfectly timed run by Ivica Olic was met by a defence splitting pass by Hamit Altitop and the Croat finished with a diagonal shot across Lloris’s goal into the bottom right corner.
The tie was over, the French hearts were shattered as for yet another season they missed a chance to appear in the final of the UEFA Champions League let alone win it, but the dazzling Croat was not done yet.
There was still time for Olic to complete his hat-trick and he did so with aplomb in the 77th minute.
Bayern’s marauding left back after a thunderous run to the byline sent a great cross the centre of the box and Olic was there to provide the finishing touches heading home from close range.
Bayern’s opponents in the final are Jose Mourinho’s Inter but Van Gaal won’t be bothered about that. His heart and mind is set on the ultimate prize in football and there would be no lengths that his team will not be willing to go to clinch that trophy.
Appearance in the final for Jose Mourinho and Luis Van Gaal will mean a unique feat will await the two managers, they will become only the third manger in the history of the game alongside Ottmar Hitzfield and Ernest Happel to win the Champions League with two different clubs.
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