The Daily Mirror journalists and the almost 700 fans from the banned sector 124 missed a great Champions League night at the Allianz Arena, as Bayern beat Manchester United to join Atletico, Real Madrid and Chelsea in the European semifinal. The Bavarian side was receptioned by a very loud crowd and the Südkurve choreo made sure to tell the focused visitors they were about to deal with the "Kings of the Cup".

Although it was Moyes who needed to score at least once, Guardiola was the boldest one and fielded the most offensive line-up Bayern had seen in months. Lahm was moved back to his original position and from there played an interesting false fullback role, often helping Kroos with his single pivot duties. Once again a starter, Mandzukic was expected to give Bayern more presence in the opposition box as the Bavarian line-up made it very clear that Guardiola was out for Moyes' bus keys.

As for United, the English side basically repeated the very successful strategy from Old Trafford: duck and cover. Apart from Evra coming back from suspension and Kagawa starting in the midfield, the English side meant to play pretty much like they did at home: making sure to defend flawlessly before trying to grab that goal they needed to make it to Europe's final four this season.

Unsurprisingly, the first hour of the match went pretty much like the Old Trafford encounter. Once again United managed to hold Bayern back very efficiently and had a goal denied in the 16th minute when Valencia was ruled offside after turning a cross from the left into a goal. Robben and Ribéry tried optimistic shots from outside the box, but they were either off target or blocked by United's defensive efforts. Just like it happened in Manchester, Bayern just couldn't turn their 70% possession into a goal and both teams went to the halftime without scoring.

With only 45 minutes to score a goal, Moyes sent a more offensive United to the second half. The extra pressure on the opposition half paid off in the 57th minute. Valencia stole the ball back, went past Alaba and his cross found a great Evra half-volley that couldn't be saved by the best. United could finally relax and make the lead work in their favor, but instead Bayern went forward immediately after conceding and a cross from Ribéry was converted into a goal by Mandzukic, as the Croatian striker was finally able to leave Evra behind and find himself some space to head it home.

Both teams played more recklessly after scoring and the match became a real Champions League drama in the last half hour as Bayern managed to create more dangerous chances and United found enough space to counterattack. Nine minutes after the Bavarian equalizer, Robben got the ball completely unmarked inside the box and crossed to Müller, who moved faster than Vidic and tipped the ball past De Gea to make it 2-1 to the Germans.

Once again playing against the clock, United adopted an even more offensive approach as their only option at that point was scoring a second time to win the tie on away goals. Guardiola acted accordingly and bought Rafinha on for Götze to fill a gap left by a very offensive-minded Lahm. Just when Moyes decided to sub off Fletcher for Hernández, Bayern made his task twice as difficult as Robben carried the ball in front of the box to scored the third Bavarian goal of the night with a pristine finish past De Gea. Bayern then controlled the match for the final fifteen minutes to secure their spot in the Champions League semifinal.

Manchester United travel back to England to face Everton on Sunday in the Premier League. Bayern now turn to the Friday draw that will tell their next step on the way to Lisbon and then their Saturday home match against Borussia Dortmund.

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