Bayern Munich endured a nightmare start to its decisive UEFA Champions League clash with Juventus on Wednesday, but a strong second-half rally helped the German champions avoid the upset.

Pep Guardiola’s side scored four unanswered goals, including two in extra time, to book Bayern Munich’s place in the Champions League quarterfinals. The Bavarians were joined by Barcelona, which secured its place in the quarterfinals with a comfortable 3-1 victory against Arsenal.

Juventus surprisingly took the 2-0 lead against Bayern at Allianz Arena, but the German Bundesliga side battled back to tie the game, 2-2 (4-4 on aggregate), to force extra time. The game was decided in the second period of extra time, as Thiago Alcantara and Kingsley Coman netted the game-winner and insurance goal to help Bayern earn the 4-2 (6-4 on aggregate) comeback win.

Juventus was missing star players, like striker Paulo Dybala and midfielder Claudio Marchisio, putting more pressure on the shoulders of Alvaro Morata to lead the attack. The forward turned in an admirable shift, helping Juventus score its second goal of the game with an incredible run down the middle of the field. Juan Cuadrado netted that goal after receiving a pass from Morata.

Paul Pogba was the Juventus player who stepped up and scored the all-important first away goal. He was in the right place at the right time as goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made an error coming off his line.

Yet, Bayern never gave up hope. Thomas Muller led the charge back, scoring the game-tying goal with minutes to spare after Robert Lewandowski netted the club’s first. In extra time, Muller combined with Thiago for the game-winning goal.

Man of the Match

Scoring the game-tying goal and assisting the game-winning effort. Without Thomas Muller on the field, Bayern would have not progressed to the final eight.

Moment of the Match

Momentum clearly shifted once Thomas Muller headed in the game-tying goal in the 91st minute. The Bayern comeback was nearly complete, and it was only a matter of time before the Bundesliga side netted again.

Match to Forget

Juventus’ defense was unbreakable for a majority of the game on Wednesday, but the impenetrable wall finally started to crumble, and Patrice Evra deserves much of the blame for poor defending on the game-tying goal.

BARCELONA DOWNS ARSENAL

Arsenal was eliminated from the UCL round of 16 for the sixth consecutive season after falling to a dominant Barcelona team at Camp Nou.

Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez all scored to lead Barcelona to a 3-1 win, which sent the La Liga club through to the quarterfinals with an aggregate score of 5-1.

Arsenal went down a goal after Neymar scored in the 18th minute, making its task much more difficult. Yet, the Gunners surprisingly netted an away goal early in the second half. Alexis Sanchez combined with Mohamed Elneny, who sent in the game-tying goal.

That scoreline would not stay the same for long, though, as Suarez blasted in a superb volley to diminish Arsenal’s hopes of a comeback. Messi put the final nail in the coffin as time was almost up, chipping a shot over goalkeeper David Ospina to stretch the lead to 3-1.

Man of the Match

Barcelona’s trio of attacking stars all shined and scored on Wednesday, but Neymar caused all sorts of problems for Arsenal’s back line throughout the 90 minutes.

Moment of the Match

Arsenal had some hope of a potential comeback after Mohamed Elneny’s goal early in the second half, but Luis Suarez’s wonder-volley (below) dashed those dreams.

https://streamable.com/v5mv

Match to Forget

It’s not easy to defend Barcelona, and centerback Laurent Koscielny made that very clear. The defender made two errors that led to two goals.

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