Porto makes it a night to remember, Suarez’s double blows PSG away
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GOAL-SCORER Ricardo Quaresma hailed Porto’s shock 3-1 quarterfinal, first-leg, win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday as a night to remember to leave the Portuguese side on the verge of the semifinals.
Porto carries a weighty advantage to Munich for Tuesday’s return leg while Bayern has only a glimmer of hope and must score at least twice.
The hosts exploited early mistakes by Bayern’s Xabi Alonso and Dante to get a dream start with right winger Quaresma converting a penalty, then scoring Porto’s second goal in the opening 10 minutes.
Bayern pulled one back through Thiago Alcantara with 28 minutes gone.
But Porto captain Jackson Martinez, a surprise inclusion after six weeks out with a hamstring injury, added its third on 65 minutes for his 27th goal of the season.
“This is a night to remember, but more important than my performance was our victory,” said the 31-year-old Quaresma who has scored five goals in his last three games. “We knew we were facing a great team, so we have to be happy. I only do my job, I am in a good place and so is the team.
“Now we will first think about our next match against Academica and only after that game we will think about Bayern again.”
Porto coach Julen Lopetegui got one over his former Barcelona teammate, Bayern’s coach Pep Guardiola, but insists nothing is decided.
“It will be a very difficult match, we are still halfway through this round, against one of the greatest teams in Bayern’s history, but we were great and this team has lots of ambition,” he said.
Bayern’s director of sport Matthias Sammer admitted the result was ‘annoying’, but that the Bavarian giants must now prove their mettle.
In Paris, Luis Suarez hit a brilliant second-half double as Barcelona appeared to end Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League dream for another year with a 3-1 quarter-final, first leg win.
Barca’s all-star attack made its class count as Neymar coolly converted from a Lionel Messi assist in the 18th minute to put Luis Enrique’s men in control, before Suarez produced two clinical finishes in the final quarter of the game.
PSG was without the suspended Marco Verratti and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and also had to make do with the absence of the injured Thiago Motta in yesterday’s match.
Without them, PSG failed to combine as a team, leaving coach Laurent Blanc to contemplate what his side lacked.
“I do not want to talk about what could have happened with other players on the pitch,” he said. “Barcelona showed the style I love and appreciate a lot... it’s been the same for 100 years now: have the ball at your feet and make the opposition run.”
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