Bayern Munich Needed 27 Minutes to Turn Around a 3-1 Deficit vs. FC Porto

Bayern Munich lost 3-1 to FC Porto in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal last week in Portugal. In the ensuing week plenty of stories about the future and legacy of coach Pep Guardiola emerged, along with questions about the club’s medical staff — which promptly resigned — since stars like Arjen Robben, Frank Ribery, David Alaba and Bastian Schweinsteiger were each unlikely to feature in the second leg.

Turns out Bayern’s mini crisis lasted all of 27 minutes at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday, as the German champs smashed Porto with three goals in succession.

Thiago started it, cashing in on Juan Bernat’s inch-perfect cross.

Jérôme Boateng, awful in the first leg, made it 3-3 on aggregate with another header.

Bayern went ahead 4-3 on this amazing sequence, started on a cross by Philipp Lahm, a cheeky flick by Thomas Müller and composed finish by Robert Lewandowski.

There’s a lot of game left to be played but a Final Four in the Champions League featuring Barcelona and Bayern Munich is going to be appointment television for soccer fans, especially if Real Madrid and Juventus round out the final foursome tomorrow.

For good measure Bayern went up 5-3 on aggregate thanks to a deflected goal set up by Müller.

And, naturally, just as this post was about to go live Lewadowski scored again, making it 6-3. Wow.

Late update: Xabi Alonso finished off the scoring with a free kick, fittingly.

[photo via Getty]