Porto 3-1 Bayern: Championship candidate falls into the Dragon's den trap

Championship contender Bayern soon collapsed when they conceded two consecutive goals from elementary mistakes in the first 10 minutes.

Jackson Martinez scored the third goal after beating Neuer. Photo: Reuters.

At home at the Dragao Stadium, Porto got off to a great start, taking the lead in the third minute. Xabi Alonso let Jackson Martinez steal the ball in front of the box, forcing goalkeeper Neuer to foul the Porto striker. On the penalty spot, Quaresma easily beat Neuer to open the scoring. Before Bayern could settle down, they received a second shock when the home team doubled the lead in the 10th minute. This time it was Dante's turn to lose the ball to Quaresma, allowing the 31-year-old midfielder to score his second goal against Neuer.

Bayern equalized in the first half thanks to Thiago Alcantara. Boateng crossed from the right wing for Alcantara to easily tap the ball into Porto's net. This was a situation where the home team's defense forgot about the Spanish midfielder.

Alcantara's goal was not enough to help Bayern come back. In the 65th minute, Martinez, despite being sandwiched between Bayern's central defenders, still received the ball before surpassing Neuer to make it 3-1. This was Martinez's sixth goal in seven Champions League games this season.

Quaresma scored twice against Bayern in the first 10 minutes. Photo: Reuters.

Porto's victory was a surprising result, even somewhat shocking, because Bayern were considered the top candidate for the Champions League title. However, at the "Dragon's Den" Dragao, Bayern failed to show their status as a giant and had to face Porto's sharp attacks throughout the match. Porto could have won by a bigger margin if they had been lucky in situations where Alex Sandro hit the crossbar at the end of the first half and Boateng almost scored an own goal early in the second half.

Not only was Bayern inferior in the game, but they also shot themselves in the foot with elementary mistakes from their defense. Alonso lost the ball to Martinez for the first goal, Dante made the same mistake for the second, and Boateng was in the wrong position for the third. Bayern's defense making three mistakes directly leading to goals in just one match is unacceptable for a team with championship dreams.

Quaresma scored twice to give Porto a two-goal lead after just 10 minutes. The former Barca and Inter midfielder had a good game, recreating the skillful ball handling situations he had at his peak. However, captain Jackson Martinez was Bayern's nightmare in this match. The Colombian striker was so strong and fast that Bayern's defenders often failed when facing him.

Coach Guardiola held his head in frustration at Bayern's performance. Photo: Reuters.

Before the match, Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confidently declared that coach Pep Guardiola had enough tactics to help the team overcome the injury storm. Looking at what Bayern showed in this match, it can be seen that this was just Rummenigge's self-assured statement. In the match where Bayern lacked the wings Ribery, Robben and Schweinsteiger, Guardiola could not maintain the winning machine.

Lewandowski, Muller and Gotze were the attacking trio but left little impact. Lewandowski had a header over the bar in the first half while Muller and Gotze were almost invisible to Porto's powerful players.

Fortunately for Bayern, they still managed to get an away goal to keep their hopes alive for the second leg. Midfielder Thiago Alcantara scored his first goal in a year after being sidelined through injury. In the return leg a week from now, Bayern need to win by at least 2-0 to progress. Last season, Chelsea did this against PSG, also in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Porto are still the only unbeaten team in the Champions League this season, after the first leg of the quarter-finals.

According to VNE