Bayern came into this tie as the clear favourites being unbeaten in their last 12 games while Fiorentina have been going through a bad patch of form recently with their poor run in the Italian Serie A. iSporter Chirag Mansukhani reviews the action from the Allianz Arena.
Fiorentina came out attacking the Bayern goal and put the German Giants under some early pressure. Bayern Munich on the other hand could not do much most of the first half as Fiorentina managed to keep both Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery at bay.
However, it was in the last ten minutes of the first half that the hosts started to break through the Fiorentina defense a couple of times, the first one being when Arjen Robben ran through the defense and chipped a ball to Muller who failed to score.
A couple of minutes in to injury time of the first half and it was Bayern again making a mockery of the Fiorentina defense when Ribery was brought down in the box. Gomez managed to put the ball in the net, though the goal did not stand as the referee hadn’t played the advantage but instead awarded Bayern a penalty.
Robben made no mistake as he scored for his fifth time in five games giving Bayern the lead as they went to the break. However, five minutes in to the second half the Bayern defense was left exposed as nobody closed down Kroldrup who obliged by putting the ball in to the net.
The German powerhouse again picked up the pace with Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben trying to create something through the flanks and Robben managed to run through the Fiorentina defense a couple of times more but failed to score.
Robben was definitely my man of the match as he created chances through out the match. At times the Fiorentina defense looked an absolutely travesty as they seemed to be at sea and had no answer to Robbens’ treacherous runs.
If there was one thing missing at this point it was controversy, and the referee didn’t disappoint as he sent off Gobbi for obstructing Robben. The decision clearly an abysmal one which only got worse when Miroslav Klose was awarded a yellow card for a dangerous tackle showing no consistency in the bookings made by the referee.
The end had yet another sting in the tale as it was Klose who headed the ball into the net in the 89th minute of the game. Klose who was miles offside when he connected head to ball, was the hero for Bayern not to mention the referee who let the goal stand.
The victory for Bayern extends their unbeaten streak as well as allows them to take a valuable goal advantage to Italy for the second leg. Fiorentina could only be left to ponder the nights’ proceedings, hoping and wishing that this referee doesn’t make the trip to Italy alongside the German giants.
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