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Champions League | Quarter-Finals
Apr 13, 2016 at 7.45pm UK
 
BL

2-2

Jimenez (27'), Talisca (76')
FT(HT: 1-1)
Vidal (38'), Muller (52')

Bayern Munich ease through to Champions League semi-finals

:Headline: Result: Bayern Munich ease through to Champions League semi-finals: ID:270573: from db_amp
Bayern Munich book their place in the semi-finals of the Champions League for the fourth season in a row courtesy of a 3-2 aggregate victory over Benfica.

Bayern Munich have booked their place in the semi-finals of the Champions League for a fifth straight season courtesy of a 3-2 aggregate victory over Benfica.

Pep Guardiola's side went into tonight's second leg at the Estadio da Luz with a 1-0 lead, and despite making it seven consecutive Champions League away knockout games without a win, their 2-2 draw was enough for them to ease through.

Bayern completely dominated the opening exchanges in Lisbon, but they were limited to only half-chances as Benfica looked to frustrate the German champions just as they did in the first leg.

The visitors' main threat arrived from crosses, the first of which saw Javi Martinez plant a tame header towards goal that was easy for Ederson to gather.

Bayern enjoyed particular success down the right flank, and created two openings in the space of three minutes via that avenue when first Thomas Muller hooked a Philipp Lahm cross narrowly wide before Arturo Vidal's header lacked the power to truly trouble the keeper.

Despite the visitors' dominance, it was Benfica who opened the scoring on the night. Eliseu's cross into the middle was perfect for Raul Jimenez, who beat two defenders and Manuel Neuer to the ball to nod it home and level things up on aggregate against the run of play.

That seemed to give the hosts a boost and they almost added a second just three minutes later when Eduardo Salvio's low cross went all the way through to Jimenez, who poked his finish straight at Neuer.

Bayern's persistence down the right wing eventually paid off, though, as they scored a crucial away goal with seven minutes remaining of the half when Vidal, who scored the only goal of the first leg, lashed a crisp first-time finish into an empty net after Ederson's punch from a Lahm cross had fallen to the midfielder.

There was another half-chance for Vidal in stoppage time of the opening period when he beat the offside trap to latch on to a lofted ball over the defence, but he couldn't steer his effort from a difficult angle on target.

A second goal did arrive for Bayern early in the second half, however, when Benfica's defence went AWOL as Martinez nodded Xabi Alonso's corner down into a dangerous area, where Muller was waiting to steer it home from close range.

That effectively killed the tie off with Benfica needing three further goals without reply to go through, and Bayern began to threaten a rout shortly after with a couple of good openings in quick succession that neither Douglas Costa nor Franck Ribery could take.

The visitors were inches away from adding a third on the hour mark when Costa was again released down the left channel, but this time his low shot struck the foot of the far post.

Neuer was called into a rare piece of action to tip Andre Almeida's powerful strike over the top shortly afterwards, before an Ederson error almost gifted Bayern another goal at the other end as Vidal's tame strike squirmed through the keeper's hands and trickled narrowly wide.

Bayern were fortunate to remain at their full complement when Martinez brought down Goncalo Guedes with the Benfica man racing through on goal, but despite the referee only showing a yellow there was further punishment to come for the visitors when Talisca curled the resulting free kick home to level things on the night.

He had another chance from a free kick to give his side hope of a dramatic late comeback, but this time his effort flew narrowly past the post with Neuer again in trouble.

There was one last chance for both sides as Robert Lewandowski missed a one-on-one before Luka Jovic fired straight at Neuer, but the match had been over as a contest for some time and the final whistle eventually confirmed Bayern's place in the last four.

The Bavarian outfit, who have reached the final in each of the previous three years that they have beaten Benfica in European competition, will join Real Madrid, Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in Friday's semi-final draw.

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