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Chelsea curtail bold Bayern

FC Bayern München's European farewell at the Olympiastadion ended in defeat.

By Andreas Alf at the Olympiastadion

Faced with the spectre of bowing out of playing European games at the Olympiastadion with defeat before the move to their new Allianz Arena home in the summer, FC Bayern München threw caution to the wind against Chelsea FC. Roy Makaay and Claudio Pizarro lined up in attack with Michael Ballack just behind them, while Bastian Schweinsteiger and Zé Roberto were on the wings of a strong attacking unit. There was little room for nostalgia as the Bundesliga leaders had to overturn a 4-2 first-leg defeat at Stamford Bridge last week.

Huth harried
A duel soon emerged between the canny Brazilian wide-man Zé Roberto and Chelsea's 20-year-old German international Robert Huth on the home team's left wing. First blood went to the South American, who bamboozled the youngster with a clever step-over to tee up Ballack soon after the kick-off as Bayern demonstrated their intent from the outset. At the other end, the home side were able to bolster their defence with Martin Demichelis, back from suspension, and he was able to wrest possession in the early stages and quickly feed the ball to the wingers.

Lucio woe
Felix Magath's tactics had another facet as with Chelsea penned back inside their own half and Joe Cole forced to provide support for Huth at right-back, the English outfit's attacking outlet was substantially curtailed. But while one Brazilian soared along the wing, his compatriot, defender Lucio, had less fortune at the heart of the Bayern defence. On the half-hour mark, following a rare foray into the attacking third by Chelsea, Frank Lampard unleashed a shot from distance that deflected off Lucio's outstretched leg, leaving Oliver Kahn stranded as it span into the net. Lucio had suffered a similar fate for Chelsea's opener at Stamford Bridge.

Compact unit
Almost immediately, the Premiership outfit married this attacking breakthrough with solid defending as Eidur Gudjohnsen switched with Cole and soon cut off the supply to Zé Roberto as Bayern's most effective first-half weapon was blunted. The move exemplified Chelsea's dogmatic approach to the game, eschewing the free-flowing flair that had seen them eliminate FC Barcelona in the previous round to adopt a compact defensive unit with Didier Drogba leading the line up front. Meanwhile, naturally attacking midfield players Lampard, Cole and Damien Duff were focused more upon defending.

Scholl factor
Magath introduced inspirational playmaker Mehmet Scholl soon after the interval, sacrificing the assured but perennially defensively-minded Demichelis as he gambled. The side responded immediately, taking the focus of the German side's attacks away from the wings and leaving the Chelsea defence with more options to cover. It soon paid off, as Pizarro equalised to restore the hopes of the majority of the crowd packed into the Olympiastadion.

Drogba danger
But with Demichelis now off, Robert Kovac was again forced to face the mighty aerial presence of Drogba alone and, after he was run ragged in the first leg, it was only going to be a matter of time before the Ivorian striker created an opening. With just ten minutes remaining Cole raced to the corner flag to keep the ball in play and with the Bayern defence apparently expecting the England youngster to run the clock down, he struck a pinpoint cross on to the head of the towering Drogba who left Bayern needing three unanswered goals to remain in the UEFA Champions League.

Tainted victory
José Paolo Guerrero and Scholl managed two in added time to give the German side victory on their European farewell at the Olympiastadion but it will be little consolation.

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