Bayern Munich cruelly allow Porto to hope and dream after first leg
April 15, 2015
Two early goals from Ricardo Quaresma and a third from Jackson Martinez in the 65th minute gave Porto a shocking 3–1 home win against Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal. On the surface, this is a dream start for Porto that gives them reason to believe that they can do something that few people thought they could: advance past Bayern to the semifinals. Instead, it’s probably just Bayern being incredibly mean.
Since Thiago provided a valuable away goal, Bayern only need a 2–0 win at the Allianz Arena to burst Porto’s rapidly inflating dream bubble. And even worse for Porto, both of their starting fullbacks — Danilo and Alex Sandro — will be suspended for the second leg.
Though Porto are a talented and underrated team in their own right, this result seems like it’s a part of Pep Guardiola’s grand scheme. Worried that his team wouldn’t be prepared for a greater test in the semifinals after strolling through the two legs against Porto, he gives the Portuguese club a head start, so to speak, in the first leg in order to light a fire under his team for the second that could help propel them all the way to the final.
With a comfortable 10-point lead in the Bundesliga, they need a challenge somewhere in order to remain sharp and avoid the 5–0 aggregate drubbing they suffered against Real Madrid in the semifinals last season. So while Porto celebrated their lead, Guardiola calmly sipped his water, fully aware of his deviousness.
