Gomez scores four as Bayern batter Basel
Reuters - Tuesday 13 March 2012, 23:19
Mario Gomez scored four
opportunist goals as Bayern Munich shattered Champions League
records and ruthlessly ended Basel's surprise run with a 7-0 win
on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals.
The rampant Bavarians handsomely avenged their shock 1-0
first-leg last 16 defeat against the Swiss champions to go
through 7-1 on aggregate and keep alive their dream of playing
the final in their own Allianz Arena stadium.
It was the biggest winning margin in a Champions League
knockout round match, Bayern's biggest win in the competition
and Basel's heaviest European defeat.
Basel had qualified for this stage at the expense of
Manchester United but some dreadful defending meant their hopes
of becoming the first Swiss team to reach the last eight for 33
years were in tatters by half-time.
Arjen Robben, Thomas Muller and Gomez put Bayern 3-0 ahead
by the break before Gomez added three more in 18 second-half
minutes, all provided by Franck Ribery.
That left the striker one goal short of Lionel Messi's
record Champions League haul of five in Barcelona's match
against Bayer Leverkusen last week.
It was Gomez's second hat-trick in successive games, after
his three goals in the 7-1 win over Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga
on Saturday, and took his Champions League tally to 10 goals.
Robben completed the scoring with nine minutes left by which
time, astonishingly, the sizeable Basel contingent in the crowd
were still singing and waving flags.
VERY CLEVER
"We were aggressive, strong and very clever against a team
who can play much better than they did today," said Bayern coach
Jupp Heynckes, whose side could still win a treble this season.
Basel's clearly shell-shocked coach Heiko Vogel, who
suffered only his second defeat since taking over in November,
added: "I'm not disappointed that we lost, but I'm enormously
disappointed at the way we lost.
"We have achieved a lot, the team has achieved lot and we
shouldn't forget this, I don't want our campaign to be reduced
to this result."
Basel were unbeaten in their previous 17 matches but playing
at a packed Allianz Arena was a far cry from games such as
Saturday's Swiss League win over Grasshoppers in front of 7,000
people.
Before the game, Basel had talked of a new self-belief
previously lacking in Swiss teams but they disintegrated as soon
as they first goal went in.
Bayern, starting without Bastian Schweinsteiger who has only
just recovered from an ankle injury, were in a different class.
The German side, clearly stung by their first-leg defeat,
Bayern went straight for the jugular and needed only 11 minutes
to wipe out the deficit.
Muller's pass was defelcted through the Basel rearguard,
leaving Robben with only goalkeeper Yann Sommer to beat which he
did emphatically.
REFLEX SAVE
With Robben and Ribery allowed far too much space down the
flanks, Sommer kept Basel alive as he twice denied Gomez,
followed by a stunning reflex save to turn away Muller's header
at point-blank range.
Basel enjoyed a brief respite, winning two corners and
having their first effort on goal when Alex Frei met Marco
Streller's cross with a half-volley at the far post which flew
over the bar.
But Bayern effectively clinched the tie with two goals in
three minutes before half-time.
An unmarked Muller turned in Robben's pass in the 42nd
minute after Basel lost possession in midfield and Gomez struck
in the 44th, scoring into an empty net after Holger Badstuber,
left free at the far post, turned the ball across the face of
goal from a free-kick.
Bayern began the second half where they left off as Gomez
acrobatically volleyed home Ribery's cross in the 50th minute,
his most impressive goal of the evening.
The same combination struck again 11 minutes later as Ribery
wriggled to the by-line and crossed for Gomez, once again
unmarked by any defenders, to head home.
Six minutes after that the Frenchman again got to the by-line
and pulled the ball back for Gomez to fire the sixth.
Schweinsteiger came on and provided the pass for Robben to
round off the scoring. Basel's stunned players were left with
the dismal rock music that greets every Bayern goal ringing in
their ears.