Bayern Munich rally sends ten man Manchester United falling from Champions League

After falling to a late goal in Germany it only took an energized Manchester United squad six minutes to completely flip the script in the second leg of the 2010 Champions League quarterfinals.  Trailing on aggregate 2-1 United got early goals from Darren Gibson and Nani to grab the aggregate advantage at 3-2.   The surprise inclusion of Wayne Rooney in the lineup along with the introduction of youth clearly put Man U on the front foot. 

When Nani heeled home a cross in the 41st minute it looked like the Red Devils would cruise into the semifinals.  Unfortunately, they switched off and allowed Olic to steal a very important goal for Bayern Munich just before halftime.  The Germans went to the locker room with hope and only needing a goal to advance themselves.

Things got even worse for Manchester United just after the restart when the youth clearly let Manchester down when young Rafael was given his second yellow for a silly pull on Ribery.  Bayern surged forward in attack against the ten man Englanders.  It was basically one way traffic and it was only a matter of if Bayern could break them down or not.

In the 74th it happened.  Ribery took a corner kick from the left and floated the ball to the top of the penalty area where Arjen Robben waited.  Robben gathered himself and struck a perfect side volley that found the lower left corner of the net and Bayern had their goal.  It was 4-4 on aggregate, but Bayern held the away goals tiebreaker.

The emphasis was now on Manchester to search out the winner or leave the competition.  United never threatened after as the Germans held the ball for long stretches forcing the Red Devils to chase.  In the end Manchester United will be left to rue what could have been and lament a terrible week which saw them fall to Chelsea and then crash from the Champions League. 

Bayern Munich can celebrate a historic victory, but the reward is a matchup with champions Barcelona in the semifinals where it will take an even better performance to survive.