Three things we noticed: Beşiktaş Istanbul – FC Bayern 1:3 (0:1)

With Jupp Heynckes’ eleventh consecutive Champions League win, Bayern qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The opponent will be drawn next Friday.

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FC Bayern went into the match with a 5-0 buffer from the first leg. Nevertheless, Jupp Heynckes rotated relatively little. Only Kimmich and Robben from the 6-0 win against Hamburg did not find a place in the starting eleven. Maintaining the focus and rhythm was important. Robben remained in Munich with a slight injury. For Kimmy, a yellow card would mean a suspension in the next game. He was sitting on the bench just in case.

Rafinha and Thiago replaced them in the starting XI. As a result, Müller played on the wing in his 95th Champions League appearance (now on level with a certain Schweinsteiger) and Thiago as usual in the centre.

Senol Günea replaced almost his entire team. Only Caner, Medel, Quaresma and Vagner Love remained in the starting XI.

The game began erratic by both teams. As in the first leg, the Munich team struggled with Besiktas’ pressing in the opening 15 minutes. The back four with Alaba, Hummels, Boateng and Rafinha lacked the means to liberate themselves playfully. When they managed to do so, however, there were large spaces behind the Besiktas line of pressing, which the Reds were rarely able to make effective use of. Müller missed the greatest opportunity as a result of an Alaba free-kick (10th).

In the 18th minute, Ribery won his first duel against two Istanbulers, creating a big space in the center. Vidal passed the ball into the back of Müller, but this unintentional delay gave Thiago the time to go into the penalty area, where he dropped Müller’s half-field flank into the goal with a drop kick. With the away goal rule, Besiktas needed seven goals to advance. The atmosphere in the stadium was also a few decibels calmer due to the Bayern goal.

In the 32nd minute Bayern had to make an early substitution. Thiago couldn’t continue and was replaced by James, who gave his comeback after the injury from the first leg.

Then the thread was completely torn in the game. Bayern lacked the last concentration. Nothing happened until the break.

In the half time Jupp Heynckes reacted and brought Süle for Hummels. Hummels had picked up a yellow card against Love early on and was lucky with another foul that was blamed on Boateng.

Bayern came out of the cabin with verve. With a nice combination, where Ribery helped out on the right side, Rafinha was freed. Uysal, Gönül and Zengin wanted to clear his cross. This went wrong. Gönül hit himself and the ball landed in the goal. Behind the players of Istanbul, Lewandowski would have been ready to fire (46th). Till then, 28 seconds were played.

In the 58th minute, a mistake by Alaba brought Besiktas to the scoreboard. In the build-up, the Austrian lost the ball, whereby Vagner Love was able to push in from a central position for 1:2. After the early lead, Bayern had left the game mentally and physically.

In the 68th minute, Wagner came on for Lewandowski. From then on, Bayern stood higher and pressed better. Besiktas no longer came close to the Munich goal.

When the game was already on the home stretch, Bayern scored again. Via James, the ball reached Alaba, who set up Wagner. He could drop the ball into the goal with his chest (82.).

In the end, Bayern managed to keep the whole thing going despite a temporary absence. With a total of 8:1 goals, the Munich team prevailed confidently. As expected, the game in Istanbul turned out to be a partly flawed event, which must surely be attributed to the score.

Three things we noticed

1. Martínez in Champions League mode

The Spaniard is back in midfield and has activaed his Champions League mode for the return leg. Martínez did not shy away from a duel this early evening. While his colleagues were already mentally preparing for the match against Leipzig, it was Martínez who did not avoid a duel. Many of the famous 50:50 moments went out in favor of Bayern. Martínez intercepted two balls and, with his five tackles, helped to bring the result over time. A duel ratio of over 67% underscored the Champions League performance of the Spaniard.

2. Ribery’s form is on the rise

The Frenchman may have had his best match this season against Hamburg. Nevertheless, a good deal was still missing to replace Coman. His game against Hamburg was too flawed for that. Against Besiktas, Ribery was more focused. He wasn’t looking for the big risk. His double body feint also initiated the deciding 0:1. Ribery also had his fingers in the lead up to the 0:2. He defensively supported Alaba vigorously, so that Quaresma changed sides in the middle of the first half.

On the other hand, there were still simple turnovers. At the end of the game there were six simple mistakes. This would have been severely punished against more effective opponents. In the second half of the match, he also slowed down too often in a promising position and ignored the well-positioned James.

Ribery’s gonna have to keep working this hard. He still has to learn that a player with 35 years of age has to work much harder than in the mid-20s.

3. Quarter-finals as the final destination?

Despite their convincing progress against Besiktas, there is still a lack of faith in how this team can compete for the title. Bayern has too many unknowns and too many injured key players. In the 32nd minute, the Munich team lost Thiago for the time being. Coman will definitely miss the quarter-finals. Manuel Neuer, who is rarely mentioned in the media because he is excellently replaced by Ulreich, should also be mentioned here. Therefore, three potential regular players are missing.

Nevertheless, there are just as many playful question marks that could also be read in this game. Admittedly, this second leg is not very meaningful, but Bayern’s pressing is still not perfect. Frequently, the build-up game is predictable. The famous “U of death” still leads to many crosses. Moreover, there are simply too many individual mistakes in the Bayern game. Hummels and Boateng alone picked up unnecessary yellow cards. The simplest mistakes in the build-up granted Besiktas repeatedely dangerous situations. The 1:2 goal is a perfect example of this. Despite the overall score. You shouldn’t rely on the logic that the famous horse only jumps as high as it has to.

Beşiktaş – Bayern
Beşiktaş	Zengin – Erkin, Medel, Uysal, Gönül – Özyakup, Arslan (60. Hutchinson) – Quaresma, Pektemek, Lens (60. Talisca) – Love (75. Babel)
Bench	Fabri, Adriano, Aksoy, Negredo
Bayern	Ulreich – Alaba, Hummels (46. Süle), Boateng, Rafinha – Vidal, Martínez, Thiago (35. James) – Ribery, Lewandowski (68. Wagner), Müller
Bench	Starke, Bernat, Kimmich, Rudy
Goals	0:1 Thiago (18.), 0:2 Gönül (46. own goal), 1:2 Love (59.), 1:3 Wagner (84.)
Cards	Yellow: Hutchinson (64.), Özyakup (71.) / Hummels (37.), Boateng (42.), Rafinha (63.)
Referees	Michael Oliver (England), Stuart Burt (England), Simon Bennett (England), Lee Betts (England)
Attendance	36,885