After receiving a thrashing at Camp Nou, the German giants were out to restore Bavarian pride as they faced a Barcelona side that was close to its full strength.

The hosts played the early stages of the game better than the entire performance in Spain, and may have sprung an improbable hope in the staunchest of supporters, but for a mistimed header from the towering Toni.

After an early surge from the home side that included Sosa and Ribery making a lot of headway, the Catalan conquistadors slowly grew into the game and began to display some of the passing game that has wowed fans the world over. But they were not at their best, since the surges up front were infrequent when compared to the domination that the side generally impose on their opponents. But the little sparks up front were clearly dealt with by Lahm and Lucio, who were absent during the first leg.

FC Hollywood took the lead right after the break through a fantastic goal by Ribery, who danced past Valdes before hammering the ball home. But the visitors were dominating the possession, and were taking in all the pressure that Die Roten created, and eventually got a goal in the final third of the game. The travellers scored in the emphatic pass-and-move style of play that has been a treat to watch throughout this season. After a series of superb passes, Keita shot from outside the 18-yard-box to level the score.

Toni almost made amends for his errors by tapping one in with little time remaining, but the linesman had flagged for offside. The game ended in a deadlock, and the inevitable progress materialised for Pep Guardiola and his charges.

Bayern Munich 1-1 Barcelona
Robery 47 (Bay), Keita 73 (Bar)

Bayern Munich: Butt; Lahm, Demichelis, Lucio, Lell; Ze Roberto (Borowski 78), Van Bommel, Ottl, Sosa (Altintop 78), Ribery; Toni

Barcelona: Valdes; Abidal, Puyol, Pique, Alves; Toure, Keita, Xavi; Iniesta (Hleb 78), Eto’o, Messi

Ref: Rosetti (Ita)

Aggregate: Barcelona 5-1 Bayern Munich

Result: Barcelona officially booked their spot in the semi-finals, and will now face Chelsea in a bid to appear at the Olimpico.

Football Italiano