Bayern toil but overcome Sevilla to reach semi-finals

AFP  |  Munich 

Jupp Heynckes' Bayern Munich marched into another semi-final despite 10-man holding them to a goalless draw at home in the second leg.

Bayern progressed to the last four of the competition for the seventh time in nine seasons as they prevailed 2-1 on aggregate yesterday following their first-leg victory in last week.

"are a good team - for a long time we couldn't get a grip on the midfield, but we stopped them scoring - that was important," said Bayern

Sevilla's bid for a first semi-final appearance fell short in spite of shutting out Bayern's attack and restricting the hosts to just 51 percent possession.

"I'm proud of my team, they showed great personality and character against a very strong opponent, it wasn't easy," said boss

"We can be proud of what we've done here, and all throughout this "

The Spaniards' defence constantly thwarted Robert Lewandowski, who was unable to add to his 35 goals this season, although Bayern had twice as many shots on goal.

finished a man down after Joaquin Correa, who had earlier hit the crossbar, was sent off in the closing stages for a clumsy foul on Javi Martinez. After and Manchester City -- the runaway leaders in and England respectively -- crashed out on Tuesday, Bayern are the only team left in who can still win the treble.

They wrapped up a sixth straight title last Saturday and are into the semi-finals of the German Cup.

- Rough treatment for Lewandowski -


===================================

Lewandowski endured a bruising night and centre-back was booked after just two minutes for bringing down the international just outside the area.

The Bayern striker then forced to palm over the bar on seven minutes.

Sevilla, needing to score at least two goals, started pushing themselves as fired wide on a rare forage behind the Bayern defence.

wasted the best chance of the first half when he created space inside the area on 37 minutes only to fire straight at Soria, who punched away the powerful drive.

At the other end, Rafinha's perfectly-timed tackle denied Sarabia, who was through on goal and shaping to shoot.

Bayern again struggled to kill off after the interval with Lewandowski nodding agonisingly wide from a deep Ribery cross. Soria produced another good save with his foot to block from at his near post.

Sevilla's best chance came just shy of the hour mark when Argentine Correa hit the woodwork after connecting with a Jesus Navas free-kick, the ball bouncing to safety with well beaten.

Robben then cut back inside with a trademark run that resulted in James' shot being comfortably saved by Soria, as Bayern's frustration at their inability to put to bed grew.

Lewandowski was replaced by on 77 minutes, the former departing sporting a plaster on his left cheek after several battering tussles with the defence.

Tempers flared late on when Correa was dismissed for clattering Martinez just before the final whistle.

Bayern will learn their semi-final fate at Friday's draw in featuring defending champions Real Madrid, and

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Thu, April 12 2018. 08:15 IST