Bayern Munich 7 – FC Basel 0

========================================================
Holland World Cup winger ARJEN ROBBEN (10) of Bundesliga club Bayern Munich, who has now scored 47 goals in all competitions for the German outfit since arriving from Spanish La Liga giant Real Madrid in the summer of 2009, loses his balance as Cape Verdean-born midfielder CABRAL (24) of Swiss Super Liga side FC Basel controls the ball during the pivotal UEFA Champions League knockout tie at the sold-out Allianz Arena in Bavaria.
========================================================

March 13, 2012
UEFA Champions League
Round of 16, second leg

7 – BAYERN MUNICH (Ger) ——— Gomez 44′, 50′, 61′, 67′, Robben 10′, 81′, Mueller 42′
0 – FC BASEL (Switz)

After requiring only ten minutes to square the the tie, the home side remained disciplined and patient before errupting for five goals within a twenty-five minute period in the middle of the match as record-breaking BAYERN MUNICH absolutely demolished visiting FC BASEL 7-0 in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 knockout encounter.

Holland World Cup winger ARJEN ROBBEN latched onto a partially-deflected pass from Germany international midfielder TONI KROOS in the penalty area and proceeded to rocket a left-footed laser just inside the far post for the equalizer that Bayern Munich so badly wanted. This effectively calmed the nerves of the record German champions, who clearly took control early and went on to outshoot FC Basel badly (11-1) over the first half hour of the contest. The all-important, go-ahead goal arrived just three minutes before the break when Germany World Cup winger THOMAS MUELLER volleyed a cross from Robben past FC Basel goalkeper YANN SOMMER to register his very first strike in the UEFA Champions League this season.

This triggered a back-breaking tidal wave of goals from Bayern Munich’s Germany international striker MARIO GOMEZ, the current leading scorer in the Bundesliga who had been thoroughly bottled up by FC Basel at Sankt Jakob Park in Switzerland. A memorable four goals in all, then, from Super Mario, who stretched his count in the UEFA Champions League to eleven this term and, overall, totals 34 goals in all competitions for the Bavarians this 2011/12 season. The architect of the last three tallies from Gomez was in-form France World Cup winger FRANCK RIBERY, who leads the Bavarians again this term with eleven assists in the Bundesliga, operating on his traditional left-hand side of the pitch.

========================================================

========================================================
France World Cup winger FRANCK RIBERY, who has now registered nine goals and 14 assists in 28 UEFA Champions League matches for Bayern Munich since transferring from French Ligue 1 side Olympique Marseille in the summer of 2007, seeks to split the FC Basel midfield pair of CABRAL (24) and Switzerland international GRANIT XHAKA (34) during the UEFA Champions League clash at the sold-out Allianz Arena in the south German state of Bavaria.
========================================================

Germany World Cup midfielder BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER, still working on a return to full match fitness, distributed a brilliant ball which resulted in Bayern Munich club history being written with less than ten minutes to play. The surgical pass into the penalty box allowed Robben to swoop in from the right and swiftly dance around the hapless Sommer. A second goal on the night and 11th of the season in all competitions from the Dangerous Dutchman, then, enabled the unstoppable Bavarians to establish a new club record for largest margin of victory since the UEFA Champions League was first created roughly two decades ago.

The triumph over FC Basel at the Allianz Arena also ranks as Bayern Munich’s second biggest win ever in the history of the European Cup / UEFA Champions League competition. Previously, the Bavarians clobbered AC Omonia Nicosia of Cyprus 9-0 at the Olympiastadion in Munich almost forty years ago in late October of 1972. Legendary striker GERD “der Bomber” MUELLER, fresh from a UEFA European Championships title won with the West German national team that summer in Belgium, collected five goals against the unfortunate Cypriots that benchmark night.

Perhaps more importantly, the monumental victory over the reigning Swiss champion allowed Bayern Munich to thoroughly erase the bitter memories experienced at this stage of the UEFA Champions League last season. To review, the Bavarians were comfortably leading Italian Serie A power Inter Milan 3-1 in the second leg of the tie with less than half an hour to play at the Allianz Arena in Munich. Two late strikes conceded, however, allowed the competition’s 2010 titlist to just barely escape on away goals.

========================================================

========================================================
Switzerland World Cup reserve midfielder XHERDAN SHAQIRI (17) of FC Basel, the talented 20-year-old who will transfer to Bayern Munich this summer for a fee of 10.0 million Euros, is shadowed by Germany World Cup reserve midfielder TONI KROOS (39) during the critical second leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 knockout tie at the sold-out Allianz Arena.
========================================================

BAYERN MUNICH : Neuer – Lahm, Boateng, Badstuber, Alaba – Luiz Gustavo, Kroos – Robben (Tymoshchuk 82′), Mueller (Schweinsteiger 70′), Ribery (Pranjic 79′) – Gomez

FC BASEL : Sommer – Steinhoefer (Degen 70′), Abraham, Dragovic, Park – Shaqiri (Zoua 80′), Cabral, Xhaka, F. Frei (Stocker 61′) – A. Frei, Streller

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

Shaqiri Freistosstor Gegen Grasshopper

========================================================
Der Laenderspieler von der Schweiz XHERDAN SHAQIRI (17), der im Sommer nach Bayern Muenchen wechselt, schiesst ein ausgezeichnetes Freistosstor fuer FC Basel gegen Grasshopper Zurich dieser letzte Samstag.
========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

========================================================

FC Basel 1 – Bayern Munich 0

==========================================================
South Korea international defender JOO-HO PARK (3) of Swiss Super Liga club FC Basel, signed from Japanese outfit Jubilo Iwata this past summer, fends off the challenge of Bayern Munich’s Holland World Cup winger ARJEN ROBBEN of Bayern Munich during the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie at Sankt Jakob Park in the north of Switzerland.
==========================================================

February 22, 2012
UEFA Champions League
Round of 16, first leg

1 – FC BASEL (Switz) ————————— Stocker 86′
0 – BAYERN MUNICH (Ger)

Strong goalkeeping throughout and a very late strike were pivotal as underdog FC BASEL remained disciplined and patient to pull off a second consecutive, major upset at home by conquering visiting BAYERN MUNICH 1-0 on a bumpy pitch in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie.

France World Cup winger FRANCK RIBERY had a pair of fantastic opportunities for Bayern Munich at close range in the early going but was denied by a pair of superb reflex saves from FC Basel’s one-time Switzerland U-21 international goalkeeper YANN SOMMER. At the other end of the pitch, Germany World Cup netminder MANUEL NEUER was needed by the visitors to stick out a hand tip a menacing shot from FC Basel’s Switzerland World Cup striker MARCO STRELLER over the bar. Neuer then just got enough of a touch to deflect a fierce header from Austria international defender ALEKSANDAR DRAGOVIC against the post, the rebound being hacked off the line to safety by Brazil international right back RAFINHA.

FC Basel had, perhaps, the best chance of the first half when South Korea international defender JOO-HO PARK provided Switzerland World Cup striker ALEXANDER FREI with a superb ball for the former Borussia Dortmund front man to smash off the crossbar with a left-footer, first time.

==========================================================

==========================================================
France World Cup winger FRANCK RIBERY, who has totaled 12 goals from 38 matches in Europe for Bayern Munich in his career to date, fails to beat FC Basel and one-time Switzerland U-21 international goalkeeper YANN SOMMER (1) from close quarters during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 clash at Sankt Jakob Park.
==========================================================

Bayern Munich began to exert more and more authority as the match wore on and might have had a goal or two ahead of the halftime whistle if not for the strong work of Sommer, who finished with eight saves, between the FC Basel sticks at Sankt Jakob Park; indeed, the Bavarians would end up outshooting their hosts on the whole of the evening by the margin of 13-7, according to the official website of the UEFA Champions League.

==========================================================

==========================================================
Switzerland international midfielder XHERDAN SHAQIRI of FC Basel, who has already been transferred to play for the record German champions in the Bundesliga next season, shields the ball from Bayern Munich captain and Germany World Cup defender PHILIPP LAHM during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match at Sankt Jakob Park.
==========================================================

The hosts, who had scored a famous victory over English Premier League giant Manchester United on the final day of group play earlier this season in the UEFA Champions League, stayed organized at the back while patiently waiting for their chances to get forward and counterattack. These opportunities dropped off considerably after Streller, the former Vfb Stuttgart and 1.FC Koeln striker, sent a header straight at Neuer early into the second half. With Sommer in fine form, a goalless draw looked to be the most likely result with time winding down.

But FC Basel’s German trainer HEIKO VOGEL, who was a youth coach with Bayern Munich for many years until departing for FC Ingolstadt 04 in 2007, would make a pair of somewhat less-than-conservative substitutions that would pay a tremendous dividend late. Cameroon international striker JACQUES ZOUA had only been on the pitch for the home side a few minutes when he took possession at the edge of the area on the right and began his fateful run into the center. A surgical pass, then, caught the Bayern defense ball-watching found fellow second half substitute VALENTIN STOCKER all alone on the left with just the goalkeeper to beat.

The 22-year-old striker, who has already earned nine caps and scored three goals for the senior national team of Switzerland, had no trouble nutmegging the Bayern Munich netminder and sending the FC Basel supporters at Sankt Jakob Park, understandably, into a genuine state of delirium.

==========================================================

==========================================================
Germany World Cup winger and Bayern Munich second half substitute THOMAS MUELLER (25) goes airborne in a collision with FC Basel goalkeeper YANN SOMMER as Austria international defender ALEKSANDAR DRAGOVIC (6) observes during the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie at Sankt Jakob Park in Switzerland.
==========================================================

FC BASEL : Sommer – Steinhoefer, Abraham, Dragovic, Park – Shaqiri (Zoua 83′), Huggel, Xhaka, F. Frei (Stocker 66′) – Streller, A.Frei (Cabral 90′)

BAYERN MUNICH : Neuer – Rafinha, Boateng, Badstuber, Lahm – Tymoshchuk, Alaba – Robben, Kroos (Olic 89′), Ribery (Mueller 71′) – Gomez

==========================================================

==========================================================

==========================================================

==========================================================

Bayern To Shackle New Purchase Shaqiri?

======================================================================
Switzerland international midfielder XHERDAN SHAQIRI (17) of FC Basel dribbles on the ball surrounded by a trio of Manchester United defenders including Serbia international NEMANJA VIDIC (15), Wales international RYAN GIGGS and England international CHRIS SMALLING (12) during the critical UEFA Champions League match at Sankt Jakob Park in die Schweiz this past December.
======================================================================

The UEFA Champions League Round of Sixteen clash featuring record German champion as well as four-time European king BAYERN MUNICH and formidable host FC BASEL will provide Bavarian supporters with the unique opportunity of seeing one new player already signed for next season taking the field tomorrow in Switzerland against his future employers in an extremely meaningful match at Sankt Jakob Park.

Bayern Munich, of course, just recently bought the youthful Switzerland international midfielder XHERDAN SHAQIRI from two-time defending Swiss Super League titlist FC Basel for the reported transfer fee of 10.0 million Euros. The tricky 20-year-old, left-footed midfielder is one of only two players to have appeared in every domestic match so far this season for FC Basel, who currently top the league table this term yet again. Shaqiri, who has netted four goals in 20 Swiss Super League games for die RotBlau along the way, was also extremely influential in FC Basel’s big win over Manchester United in Europe earlier this past December.

Shaqiri, to review, dished out both assists as FC Basel secured a famous 2-1 victory at Sankt Jakob Park while disappointing Manchester United failed to reach the knockout round of the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 2005/06 season.

======================================================================

======================================================================
FC Basel midfielder XHERDAN SHAQIRI, who made one substitute appearance against Honduras at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, scored all the goals when Switzerland rallied after going down early to defeat Bulgaria 3-1 in the 2012 European Championships qualification match earlier this past September at Sankt Jakob Park in Basel; altogether, Shaqiri has totaled four goals from 17 apperances with the senior national team thus far.
======================================================================

======================================================================
Switzerland international midfielder XHERDAN SHAQIRI (17) in a final training session for FC Basel a day ahead of the important UEFA Champions League Round of Sixteen tilt with visiting German Bundesliga giant Bayern Munich, who have already secured the services of the talented, 20-year-old native of what is now the Republic of Kosovo for the 2012/13 season; surely, Shaqiri will be looking to leave a positive impression on the club soon to be paying his salary while the Bavarians, for their part, would rather keep the electric, young Swiss playmaker unharmed but in shackles.

Bayern Munich 3 – FC Basel 0

========================================================
Bayern Munich defender BRENO (right), a member of Brazil’s bronze medal squad at the 2008 Summer Olympics, denies the ball to Switzerland international striker MARCO STRELLER, who scored 12 goals in 69 Bundesliga games in four seasons with Vfb Stuttgart and 1.FC Koeln before transferring to FC Basel in the summer of 2007, at the Allianz Arena in southern Germany. (Oliver Lang/DAPD)
========================================================

UEFA Champions League
Group Stage
12/8/2010

3 – Bayern Munich (GER) ———— Ribery 35′, 50′, Tymoshchuk 37′
0 – FC Basel (SWITZ)

A trio of fine saves from the young, inexperienced second-string goalkeeper and a quick pair of strikes with roughly ten minutes to go in the first half enabled German Bundesliga champion BAYERN MUNICH to suppress visiting Swiss Super League titlists FC BASEL 3-0 in Group E of the UEFA Champions League.

22-year-old THOMAS KRAFT, impressive in his first-ever start for the Bayern Munich first team a fortnight ago in Rome, was needed early on by the Bavarians to stem the assault of their Alpine neighbors, managed by former Bayern Munich midfielder THORSTEN FINK.

20-year-old defender DIEGO CONTENTO demonstrated both determination and effort as Bayern Munich took the lead in the 35th minute. A return ball from 20-year-old Germany World Cup reserve midfielder TONI KROOS looked to be a bit long, but sheer hustle and an effective shoulder charge on FC Basel’s Cape Verde-born midfielder CABRAL won out. Contento pulled the ball back for France World Cup midfielder FRANCK RIBERY, who made no mistake and scored his first goal in Europe for Bayern Munich this season.

========================================================

========================================================
(Matthias Schrader/AP)
========================================================

Ukraine international ANATOLI TYMOSHCHUK, who will not be denied a place and is now back in central defense for the Bavarians, added a second for Bayern Munich a couple of minutes later. A corner kick from Kroos was headed towards the net by Germany international striker MARIO GOMEZ and swept in by the 31-year-old handyman from close range. A first goal in the UEFA Champions League, then, for Tymoshchuk this season, who had a brace in the Bundesliga opposite Eintract Frankfurt and counts three goals in his last three games.

In all, Tymoshchuk boasts four goals in all competitions this season for Bayern Munich.

Ribery added his second of the night and his third of the season to give Bayern Munich a 3-0 advantage five minutes into the second half following a centering pass from Germany World Cup winger THOMAS MUELLER; coming into the match with FC Basel, the Frenchman had only managed a single goal against amateur side TSV Germania Windeck in the German Cup back on August 16.

With five wins in six matches, Bayern Munich easily finished first in Group E of the UEFA Champions League; FC Basel, who needed to win and receive some help from Romanian outfit CFR Cluj Napoc in order to secure the second spot in the knockout round, will instead take part in the UEFA Europa League this spring.

========================================================

========================================================
With Ghana World Cup defender SAMUEL INKOOM (22), bought by FC Basel from two-time African champion FC Asante Kotoko for $ 700,000 in the spring of 2009, back on his heels, France World Cup FRANCK RIBERY of Bayern Munich leaps into the attack at the Allianz Arena in Bavaria. (Oliver Lang/DAPD)
========================================================

BAYERN MUNICH : Kraft – Lahm, Tymoshchuk, Breno, Contento – van Bommel, Kroos (Altintop 68′) – Schweinsteiger – Ribery, Mueller – Gomez

FC BASEL : Costanzo – Inkoom, Abraham, Ferati, Safari – Shaqiri (Tembo 76′), Yapi, Cabral (Almerares 55′), Stocker – Streller (Xhaka 46′), Frei

========================================================

========================================================
(Sebastian Widmann/DAPD/AP)
========================================================
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

FC Basel 1 – Bayern Munich 2

========================================================
Germany World Cup midfielder BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER (31) of Bayern Munich looks to play the ball ahead of FC Basel’s Ivory Coast international midfielder GILLES YAPI-YOPO (10) and Switzerland World Cup midfielder BENJAMIN HUGGEL (8) at St. Jakob Park in northern Switzerland where France meets Germany. (Keystone/Blick photo)
========================================================

UEFA Champions League
Group Stage
9/28/2010

1 – FC Basel (SWITZ) ————— Frei 18′
2 – Bayern Munich (GER) ——— Schweinsteiger pen 56′, 89′

A pair of goals from Gemany World Cup midfielder BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER, the latter coming in the dying moments of the match, enabled visiting Bundesliga champion BAYERN MUNICH to defeat neighboring Swiss side FC BASEL 2-1 and remain atop Group E of the UEFA Champions League.

FC Basel, managed by one-time West Germany U-21 international and former Bayern Munich midfielder THORSTEN FINK, took the early lead in the 18th minute after a bad pass by Bayern Munich’s Belgium international defender DANIEL VAN BUYTEN.

Quick work by a pair of Switzerland internationals, 21-year-old midfielder VALENTIN STOCKER and 29-year-old MARCO STRELLER, followed; Streller, who played three years in the Bundesliga for Vfb Stuttgart and 1.FC Koeln previously, produced a backheel which allowed Switzerland World Cup striker ALEXANDER FREI to finish with a superb curling shot past Germany World Cup reserve goalkeeper HANS-JORG BUTT.

For the 31-year-old Frei, the national team of Switzerland’s all-time leading goal-scorer (40 goals – 77 caps) who spent three seasons in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund before joining FC Basel in July of a year ago, the goal was his first career in the UEFA Champions League.

A little over ten minutes into the second half, Bayern Munich pulled level when Germany World Cup attacker THOMAS MUELLER was brought down in the box by FC Basel’s Switzerland World Cup midfielder BENJAMIN HUGGEL, the former Eintract Frankfurt player who had a goal disallowed for offsides in the first half.

Schweinsteiger sent Argentina international goalkeeper FRANCO COSTANZO the wrong way with the subsequent spot kick.

Bayern Munich, who were better able to assert themselves in the second half against FC Basel, snatched a late winner when an airborne and unmarked Schweinsteiger appeared at the back post to sidefoot home the free kick of Germany World Cup reserve defender HOLGER BADSTUBER.

—————————————————————————————————————————

FC BASEL : Costanzo – Inkoom, Abraham, Ferati, Safari – Yapi Yopo (Almerares 89′), Huggel (Cabral 87′) – Shaqiri (Chipperfield 80′), Stocker – Frei, Streller

BAYERN MUNICH : Butt – Lahm, van Buyten, Badstuber, Pranjic – van Bommel, Schweinsteiger – Altintop (Gomez 46′), Mueller, Kroos (Olic 56′) – Klose (Tymoshchuk 77′)

========================================================

========================================================
As Bayern Munich’s Holland World Cup midfielder MARK VAN BOMMEL (17) views Germany’s World Cup reserve goalkeeper HANS-JOERG BUTT at full stretch with no chance, Switzerland international striker ALEXANDER FREI of FC Basel (left) shoots the home team ahead in the 18th minute at St. Jakob Park. (Matthias Schrader/AP)
========================================================
========================================================
Germany World Cup midfielder BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER (far left) meets the free kick of the not-pictured Germany World Cup defender HOLGER BADSTUBER at the back post in the 89th minute for Bayern Munich against FC Basel at St. Jakob Park. (Reuters photo)
========================================================
========================================================
33-year-old Holland World Cup midfielder MARK VAN BOMMEL (17) has a few words for Germany World Cup midfielder BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER (31) after the 26-year-old’s second goal of the game gave German meister Bayern Munich a dramatic, last-minute lead on Swiss side FC Basel at St. Jakob Park. (Reuters photo)