Villarreal send Bayern crashing out of the Champions League
On a disappointing night for German football, Samuel Chukwueze's late equaliser sent Villarreal through to the Champions League semi-finals and Bayern out of the tournament.
| RB Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann. | Photo: GEPA Pictures/PICTURE POINT/Sven Sonntag/Pool via PICTURE POINT |
Having been lucky to escape with a 1-0 defeat in the first leg last week, Bayern knew they had to win tonight, and they looked much more dominant and comfortable from the start of tonight's return leg.
It all appeared to be going according to plan for Julian Nagelsmann's troops when Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring in the 52nd minute after latching on to a pass from Thomas Müller.
A second goal for Bayern looked more likely than an equaliser, and Müller should have made it 2-0 with 71 minutes played when he headed wide from an unmarked position.
As the minutes flew by, the game looked increasingly likely to go into extra-time, but then Villarreal found an equaliser out of nowhere, with second-half substitute Samuel Chukwueze smashing the ball past Manuel Neuer at the back post in the 88th minute to stun the home side.
Bayern had too little time to respond, and Villarreal saw things through to advance to the semi-finals.