Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich completed an impressive Champions League comeback over 120 minutes to reach the quarter-finals at the expense of Juventus.
The Serie A leaders – and last year’s beaten finalists – thought they had done enough to eliminate Bayern in their own Allianz Arena thanks to first-half goals from Paul Pogba and Juan Cuadrado.
But Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller struck after the break to send the game into extra time, and Juve’s race was run when Thiago Alcantara and Kingsley Coman earned Bayern a 4-2 win.
That's some comeback by Bayern. Great character, strength and quality. Fantastic game/tie.
— Steve Nicholson (@SNicholsonDT) March 16, 2016
Guardiola will now watch Friday’s draw with interest as he looks to avoid former employers Barcelona and future paymasters Manchester City, with Real Madrid and Paris St Germain also lurking.
Elsewhere, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar all got on the scoresheet as Barcelona comfortably completed their task against Arsenal at the Nou Camp to reach the Champions League quarter-finals.
The hosts, 2-0 up from leg one, ran out 3-1 winners in the last-16 second leg for a 5-1 victory on aggregate.
Arsenal briefly had some hope when Mohamed Elneny’s fine 51st-minute strike from the edge of the box levelled things on the night, an effort replying to Neymar’s slotted 18th-minute opener.
But Suarez then sent an excellent first-time volley into the corner in the 65th minute, and Messi lifted a deft finish over David Ospina with two minutes remaining.
Gunners forward Danny Welbeck clipped the crossbar with a shot soon after Suarez’s goal, but the outcome never really looked in any doubt as Barcelona continued their pursuit of back-to-back Champions League titles.
