Bayern hit Basle for seven – Inter Milan ousted by Marseille
Mario Gomez grabbed four goals to follow up his weekend hat-trick as Bayern Munich outclassed Basle 7-0 at the Allianz Arena to cruise into the Champions League quarter-finals 7-1 on aggregate. The German club, whose home ground will stage the European final in May, had been stunned by a 1-0 defeat in the first leg at St Jakob Park.
A crushing 7-1 victory over Hoffenheim on Saturday included a Gomez hat-trick and the striker has obviously hit a rich vein of form. Whilst the football world is still drooling over the performance of Barcelona last week, the attacking threat posed by Thomas Muller, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery looked enough to worry any defence in the world.
Bayern went ahead after 10 minutes mark with a clinical finish from Robben into the bottom right corner. After 42 minutes Robben played in Muller to volley home from eight yards and Basle were already in deep trouble. Just three minutes later Gomez grabbed the first of his remarkable goal haul and the tie was all but settled. Five minutes into the second half Gomez volleyed home from Ribery’s cross and on 60 minutes he completed his second hat-trick in four days. Ribery sauntered through the crumbling Basle defence before setting Gomez for a simple finish. Gomez grabbed his fourth goal after 65 minutes and Robben slotted home a seventh in the 81st minute to complete a night of misery for the Swiss.
In Tuesday’s other Champions League tie, Marseille knocked out Italian giants Inter Milan after a dramatic 2-1 defeat at the San Siro. The early exit from the Champions League will heap the pressure on Inter boss Claudio Ranieri.
Marseille squandered an early chance when Mathieu Valbuena fired narrowly wide. Inter seemed to be sadly lacking in confidence and could not take the opportunities that came their way. Wesley Sneijder had a great chance but his shot hit Diawara and fell kindly for Mandanda. Milito then broke clear to meet Dejan Stankovic’s cross just feet from goal, but the Argentinian tried to chest it in and presented it into the goalkeeper’s grateful arms. In the second half, Ranieri was forced to withdraw Sneijder through injury and a disappointing Forlan was also replaced. Stankovic wasted a free-kick and Marseille could have killed the game off in the 71st minute when Julio Cesar denied Diawara’s header on the line.
Diego Milito’s 75th-minute goal looked set to force the tie into extra-time. But Brandao fired Marseille level in the second minute of stoppage time to put the French side on the verge of the quarter-finals. However, the drama was far from over as Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda brought down Giampaolo Pazzini, earning a second yellow card and giving Inter the chance to go 2-1 ahead. Pazzini smashed home the penalty, but it was the last kick of the game.
