FC Bayern Munich are well-positioned to reach the Champions League quarter-finals but will be angry at tossing away a two-goal lead in an absorbing and intense 2-2 draw away to Italian record champions Juventus in Tuesday night’s Round of 16 first leg tie, Philipp Lahm's 100th appearance in Europe’s elite club competition. A win by any score or a goalless or 1-1 draw in the return will now be enough for Munich to prevail.
The 41,475 full house at the Juventus Stadium saw Pep Guardiola’s men camp out in their opponents’ half for most of the first 45 minutes, Thomas Müller failing to convert the best of a string of early chances but hitting the target on 43 minutes to hand his side a valuable half-time lead. Arjen Robben doubled the advantage with a trademark finish ten minutes into the second half, but the Italians were not dead and buried and showed terrific morale to level the scores through Paulo Dybala and substitute Stefano Sturaro and leave a pulsating tie nicely poised.
The teams meet again for the return leg at the Allianz Arena in three weeks’ time on Wednesday 16 March, with the aggregate winners going through to the last eight. The Bavarians are back in action on Saturday afternoon away to last season’s Bundesliga runners-up Wolfsburg. Don’t miss the excellent video with the highlights of tonight’s fantastic match.
