The club chief was astonished at the way his players tore Porto apart in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final decider
Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge described his team’s 6-1 victory over Porto on Tuesday as “miraculous”.
Pep Guardiola’s men headed into the quarter-final second leg at the Allianz Arena under a cloud of negativity, following the 3-1 first-leg defeat and the subsequent resignation of club doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt.
All the pre-match talk of whether Bayern were facing a European disaster quickly fell apart, however, as the hosts raced into a 5-0 lead by half-time.
A more measured second-half performance – due to the players’ exhaustion from their efforts in the opening 45 minutes – ensured the game ended 6-1 and ended Julen Lopetegui’s European hopes in crushing fashion.
Rummenigge was stunned that his players could pull such a performance out of the bag despite being without key players such as Bastian Schweinsteiger, Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Medhi Benatia due to injury.
“We just witnessed something miraculous,” Bayern legend Rummenigge said in a short but sweet comment to reporters.
Polish striker Robert Lewandowski was the only player to score twice in Munich, sharing the scoresheet with Thiago, Jerome Boateng, Thiago and Xabi Alonso, and he conceded the final scoreline was hard to believe.
“The first half was awesome,” the former Borussia Dortmund goalscorer said. “We knew we had to push hard but five goals in the first half is crazy!”
Bayern are back in action on Saturday when they host Hertha Berlin. If Wolfsburg cannot match or better Bayern’s result when they face Borussia Monchengladbach the following day then the Bavarians will be crowned Bundesliga champions for the third consecutive season.