WATCH: Mane, Van Dijk Lead Liverpool Over Bayern Munich to UCL Quarterfinals
After Liverpool and Bayern Munich played to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 at Anfield, there were two schools of thought that followed. One favored Bayern, given that all the German power needed to do was win at home, something it does with regularity. The other, though, favored Liverpool, given that any goal would tilt the scales in its favor with the away-goal tiebreaker.
The second thought won out.
Liverpool went into Allianz Arena and walked out with a 3-1 win, with Sadio Mane scoring twice and Virgil van Dijk scoring a goal and assisting on another to send the Reds to the quarterfinals and Bayern tumbling out of the competition. Liverpool joins fellow Premier League sides Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham in the final eight, with the English clubs making up half of the remaining field.
Bayern looked to strike early, with Mats Hummels chipping forward for Serge Gnabry, who had snuck in behind Liverpool's back line, but goalkeeper Alisson read it the whole way, racing of his line to beat Gnabry to the ball in the second minute.
Bayern had another chance in the ninth minute, after Roberto Firmino carelessly gave the ball away, inadvertently playing Thiago into space to let a 20-yard curler fly. The Bayern midfielder put the chance over the bar, though, keeping the tie scoreless. A couple of minutes later, Robert Lewandowski thought he'd won a penalty off van Dijk as both went for a ball chipped over the top, but referee Daniele Orsato saw it the whole way and waved play on.
Liverpool was let off in that instance but suffered a setback moments later. After overcoming an early injury concern, captain and midfielder Jordan Henderson could not continue, forcing Jurgen Klopp into a 13th-minute substitution that brought Fabinho into the match.
In the attack, Liverpool looked uncharacteristically out of sync. On one instance in the 23rd minute, Mane slotted the ball into the box where he expected Firmino to be running into space, yet the Brazilian never made his move, making for an easy play for Manuel Neuer to gather the ball. Firmino nearly made up for it in sensational fashion, striking off the half-volley in the 25th minute and missing Neuer's goal just wide to the right.
Liverpool struck first soon after. It came through Mane, who raced onto a long ball over the top from Van Dijk. Neuer had come off his line to try and either win the ball or close down the angle, but the Senegal international took the ball down expertly, then spun on the goalkeeper before chipping into the vacated net to score a huge away goal. Given Bayern didn't score at Liverpool, it means the hosts require two goals to stay alive.
Bayern got back into the tie in the 39th minute off a relatively straightforward free kick. Gnabry was picked out streaking down the right-hand side, and his cross for Lewandowski was touched by Joel Matip into his own net, making it 1-1 on the night. Liverpool's away goal still kept the visitors ahead via tiebreaker at the time, though.
Liverpool came out firing to start the second half, looking for insurance, and it nearly came from Mohamed Salah, who forced Neuer to parry his powerful shot away as James Milner lurked on the left-hand side, hoping for the rebound that to fall his way.
Bayern came dangerously close to going ahead on the hour mark, with Gnabry the danger man again. He sent a teasing ball across the goal mouth after being played in by Ribery, but the ball was just out of the reach of the sliding Lewandowski and sailed through the area.
That miss was costly for Bayern, as Liverpool padded its advantage soon after. It came through Van Dijk, last season's huge acquisition, with the center back leaping over his counterpart, Hummels, to head home Milner's 69th-minute corner kick and make it 2-1 on the day. The goal required Bayern to need two goals, due to Liverpool holding the tiebreaker.
Bayern pressed given the scenario and came close to getting one of the goals it required through Renato Sanches, with the Portuguese substitute striking a low blast just wide of the post in the 82nd minute.
Liverpool put the match and tie away minutes later. Salah served up a perfect ball for Mane, who headed home his second of the night from close range to make it 3-1 Liverpool and send the Reds on their way to the quarterfinals.
The only downside on the night came in stoppage time, when left back Andy Robertson was booked, with the yellow card ruling him out of the first leg of the quarterfinals due to accumulation.
Here were the lineups for both sides:
The Champions League quarterfinal draw will be held Friday, with no restrictions on potential matchups and no seeding for the eight remaining teams vying for Europe's top prize.
