Guardiola Taught a Lesson as Bayern Munich Exit Champions League with Heads High

Bayern Munich won the battle but lost the war on Tuesday as they earned a 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League semifinal, a victory that was not enough to overturn their 1-0 defeat in Spain a week prior.

Watching the second leg alone, the result looked to be a cruel one for the German giants, who were dominant for almost the entire match but saw the visitors slip through thanks to a crucial away goal scored by Antoine Griezmann.

It was the only gilt-edged chance Diego Simeone’s men were able to muster from free play during the game, but it was enough to see them through to the final.

Perhaps the writing was on the wall after the first leg. Heading into that match, Bayern captain Philipp Lahm underlined the importance of an away goal: “We remember what happened in our last semifinals,” he said, per ESPN. “We have not forgotten that we did not score any goal away from home against either Real Madrid or Barcelona.”

Bayern suffer AGAIN from not getting an away goal. Three years in a row & they’ve been punished for it, again.

— Whitehouse Address (@The_W_Address) May 3, 2016

Indeed, Pep Guardiola sent out his team in last year’s semifinal with Barcelona in an oddly aggressive manner, man-marking the Catalan giants’ forwards with a back three positioned as high as the offside trap could possibly apply. Barca had all the early momentum and won 3-0.

The year before, Bayern played an extremely high line …

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