UCL: Bayern Munich cruise past Besiktas

Besiktas 1-3 Bayern Munich, Bayern win 8-1 on aggregate
(Love 84’ — Thiago 18’, Gokhan Gonul og 46’, Wagner 84’)

Jupp Heynckes’ prediction of an intense atmosphere in Istanbul proved to be right, but there’s appears to be nothing you can throw at his Bayern Munich team to phase them.

In the end, the veteran coach left Istanbul as the sole coach to win 11 consecutive games in the Champions League, even if the boisterous singing from the Besiktas fans continued beyond the point that their 8-1 aggregate defeat was confirmed.

Besiktas had been very poor over the two legs, but they had met a Bayern Munich side whose class and quality will undo better teams than the Turkish champions between now and May.

Thiago Alcantara was reinstated to the Bayern starting line-up and it took him on 18 minutes to open the scoring. Thomas Müller, the star for Bayern in the first leg, whipped in a brilliant cross from the right, leaving Thiago only to steer the ball home from close range.

But Thiago’s night took a turn for the worse when he was forced off with what looked a recurrence of an old injury to his left leg. He was withdrawn and replaced by James Rodriguez, with Bayern fans left to hope that Thiago’s withdrawal was only a precaution.

That didn’t stop Bayern from doubling their lead less than a minute after the restart, with Gokhan Gonul unable to deal with Rafinha’s cross and putting it into his own net.

Besiktas rallied and finally gave their vocal support something to cheer about just before the hour mark, when Vagner Love held off Arturo Vidal’s challenge to squeeze the ball inside the far post, despite Jerome Boateng’s best efforts to clear off the line.

But Bayern had the last laugh, with substitute Sandro Wagner chesting the ball in from point blank range after David Alaba’s cross was deflected into his path. It was a professional job well done by Bayern, who no team will want to face in the draw for the last eight.

As it happened: 

Fulltime: Bayern win 3-1 on the night and 8-1 on aggregate.

87' Talisca forces Ulreich into action. No danger to the Bayern goal, though. 

84' Goal for Bayern! Sandro Wagner chests it in after Alaba's cross is deflected by a Besiktas defender perfectly into Wagner's path.

80' The Besiktas supporters have largely given up their whistling. Now they are singing, perhaps their farewell to the Champions League for this season.

79' Wagner (the Bayern one) looked like he could be away to the races, but he seemed to stumble over the ball. 

75' Vagner Love hobbles off. He's replaced by Ryan Babel. Love probably caused Bayern the most trouble over the first 75 minutes, but he appears to have taken a knock.

68' A lot of people were suprised that he started, given Bayern's advantage. Now, though, Lewandowski comes off and is replaced by Sandro Wagner.

64' Hutchinson's name goes into the book for a foul not five minutes after he came on. 

63' Rafinha gets the yellow card for a wild two-footed challenge. 

60' Besiktas make a couple of changes: The Canadian international Atiba Hitchinson comes in for Tolgay Arslan, while Talisca comes in for Jeremain Lens. 

59' Goal for Besiktas! Vagner Love puts it in after a pass from Gonul, but really sloppy defending by Bayern!

51' The referee briefly held up the match as a ginger cat turned up near the touchline. It quickly went on its way and the game continues.

50' Heynckes, by the way, made one change at the half, taking off Hummels, who was on a yellow card and replacing him with Süle. 

46' Goal for Bayern! Rafinha played a half-high cross into the area and Gonul turned it into his own net. Not even half a minute played in the half. 

46' Bayern kick off to start the second half. 

Halftime assessment: This was very much the sort of first half we expected. Besiktas played hard, Bayern had their hands full at times, but never really looked in danger, as their Turkish opponents weren't able to create any real scoring chances. Thiago's goal puts Bayern up 6-0 on aggregate. Still no word on how serious his injury might be. 

45' +1 Referee Oliver blows the whistle for the halftime break. Back in 15!

45' Alaba is called for holding back Jermain Lens. Several Besiktas players surround referee Michael Oliver demanding a card for the Austrian. He disappoints them.

44' Ribery can't get to the ball through Arslan - so he gives him a shove. If he does that again, he's bound to join Hummels and Boateng in the book.

42' Jerome Boateng also goes into the book. Vagner Love was trying to break through and as Hummels was attempting a tackle, Boateng stopped him in his tracks with a solid block.

39' Another corner for Bayern... And it comes to nothing.

37 ' Vagner Love with a run down the left. Hummels catches him and is given the yellow card.

35' James Rodriquez replaces Thiago. No word on how serious the injury to Thiago might be.

34' In the meantime Thiago is off with an apparent injury.

30' Quaresma gets close enough to take a crack from distance, but his effort is nowhere near Ulreich's cage.

28' Corner for Bayern taken by Alaba. Mats Hummels' header sails high and wide.

25' Besiktas show a sign of life. Gonul fires a low cross into the area but it's intercepted and controlled by Vidal. No real danger there. 

18' Goal for Bayern! Thiago gets on the end of a nice cross from just outside the corner of the box from Müller. Thiago was completely free to finish it like a striker.

12' Vagner Love gets a header off from inside of the Bayern effort, but the weak effort is nowhere near the target.

10' Thomas Müller pounces on a rebound from Zengin, the Besiktas keeper, but he skies it. 

9' Besiktas almost create a chance in the Bayern area, but Sven Ulreich gathers it in with no trouble.

7' Lewandowski is put in alone on the keeper by Müller, but the linesman's flag is up...

5' Neither team has been able to establish an advantage in terms of possession yet. 

1' Bayern get a taste of what sort of atmosphere they will have to endure all night: The first time they get possession, dispproving whistles roar down from the crowd.

1' And Besiktas kick off to start the match.

17:55   The players walk out into a raucous Besiktas Park for this second leg of the Istanbul side's round-of-16 clash with Bayern Munich. 

17:38  Despite Bayern's healthy lead, head coach Jupp Heynckes has warned his team to expect a tough battle in the Besiktas Park. 

"We are facing top opponents. We are up against hot-blooded fans who will whip their team forward," Heynckes told the prematch press conference. "Even if you have a comfortable lead you still have to go into the game with full concentration. You have to go out to win each game irrespective of the first leg."

The lineups show that he has resisted the urge to rest a number of his stars ahead of their weekend encounter in Leipzig. 

17:32  The lineups are out for tonight's second leg of the Champions League round-of-16 tie between Besiktas and Bayern Munich.  

Besiktas:

Tolga Zengin (c.) - Caner Erkin, Necip Uysal, Gary Medel, Gokhan Gonul - Jeremain Lens, Tolgay Arslan, Oguzhan Ozyakup, Ricardo Queresma - Mustafa Pektemek, Vagner Love   
 

Bayern Munich

Sven Ulreich - David Alaba, Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng, Rafinha - Arturo Vidal, Javi Martinez, Thiago Alcantara - Franck Ribery, Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Mueller (c.)