Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola will never be accused of taking an opponent lightly. He is far too meticulous for that. Yet his team were caught cold and made to look mortal by an opponent in Porto who were all too ready for them.
Bayern dominated possession but never mastered Porto, who defended from the front, and to devastating effect. All three goals came from hurried Bayern defenders making calamitous mistakes.
Despite the lead they will take to Germany next week, Porto have grounds for complaint. Their victory might have been yet more crushing. Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer’s bringing down of Jackson Martinez after the striker robbed Xabi Alonso in the second minute looked like a last-man foul, but Spanish referee Carlos Carballo waved yellow instead of red. Porto coach Julen Lopetegui looked angry, even when Ricardo Quaresma converted from the spot.
The only explanation was that a heavy touch from Martinez might have robbed him of a goal-scoring opportunity. That Neuer had committed a foul was undoubted.
The chance to play almost the full 90 minutes against an already underpowered Bayern reduced to 10 men was lost, but Porto were not for sulking. Quaresma soon burst through to score a second in open play after Dante had repeated Alonso’s carelessness. Thiago Alcantara’s strike was an away goal that looked to have swung the tie towards Munich. A goalkeeper himself during his time as a player, Lopetegui will have been angry that Neuer was still on the field to pull off a miraculous point-blank save from Hector Herrera’s snap shot on the hour mark.
Porto, though, continued to stretching their opponents into uncomfortable shapes, keeping Bayern bewildered throughout. Alonso was almost caught out by that same blitz pressing at the beginning of the second half. Thiago’s goal drew Porto out from the deep defending they adopted after their second. Martinez seized on Bayern’s defender Jerome Boateng losing the flight of the ball, to make Guardiola’s task in six days a huge ask. He has much preparation to do.
2. Bayern wobble badly
Bayern are suffering from having their wings clipped. The sight of attackers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery dovetailing from the flanks has been a perennial of the Champions League. With both players out with injury, Guardiola called on two World Cup winners in Thomas Muller and Mario Gotze to the sides of Robert Lewandowski, but not nearly so much danger.
Long passes were aimed at Muller and Lewandowski to little effect. It was often the only option as Porto hunted in packs and built a heavy bank in midfield. Alonso’s radar was badly out of sync as he was hassled by Yacine Brahimi’s busyness in particular. The Basque is still a playmaking maestro, but opponents can get at him when he is in possession in last-man positions.
It looked as if Bayern were unprepared for Porto’s high pressing. They certainly could not deal with it. Dante, Alonso and Boateng all paid dearly for their painfully circumspect dallying. Defensive weaknesses were exposed starkly, and Bayern’s hopes hang on that solitary away goal.
Thiago is back after the injuries absence that robbed him of playing at last year’s World Cup and threatened the career of a player with gigantic potential. The Spanish international is the one player Guardiola asked for when he took the Bayern reins in 2013, and the remains of this season are a chance for him to reassert his worth. Porto’s aggression made his first Champions League match since last March, and only the third of his comeback, a tough assignment.
However, his instinct for a scoring position has not deserted him. From Boateng’s cross, he pivoted to divert in a precious away goal. That ability to ghost into positions was what made him a Guardiola favourite. Once he had scored his first-ever Champions League goal, Thiago brimmed with confidence, to take on the advanced playmaking role in place of the injured Bastian Schweinsteiger. Bayern briefly found their step, but it would not last.
3. Porto more than a sales pitch
The last time Porto were at this Champions League stage, they were buried by Cristiano Ronaldo as Manchester United progressed. They have had to wait another six years to make a first semifinal since Jose Mourinho led the club to a second European Cup in 2004. They looked more than capable of seizing this opportunity.
They were always a troublesome outfit to draw, a group of players who will probably end up at clubs like Bayern, as Porto continue their role as an operation whose specialty is in unearthing young talent and then selling at premium. Though they are two-time winners, Porto know their place in the continent’s hierarchy. Full-back Danilo, already headed for Real Madrid, is the next off the production line.
Though he came through Sporting Lisbon rather than Porto, Quaresma was once that type of promising fledgling courted by all of Europe. At 33, an elder statesman, his penalty was struck with the coolness of a player who has seen plenty, while the finish for his second goal was a trademark attempt with the outside of his boot. No player in Europe uses that part of their anatomy so often. Standing in for absentee Cristian Tello, once a Guardiola Barcelona protege, Quaresma, who also failed to make the Nou Camp grade, took his open-play chance just as calmly as his penalty.
Martinez’s return from a hamstring injury was a calculated risk to pay high dividends. The Colombian striker might have been mindful that this was an opportunity to win a move, as decent forwards are such at a premium these days.
Aside from Martinez winning the penalty, and his goal, he produced a devastating display of playing as a lone striker that must have pricked some Premier League attention. Warning: he will cost serious money, as might Bruno Martins Indy, the Dutch defender who was outstanding in keeping Lewandowski quiet.
Porto proved that they are far more than a clearing house. Once again, they look a threat on the grandest stage.
John Brewin is a staff writer for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @JohnBrewinESPN.
