It was a shock but also a logical end point, the surprise that you knew could be coming. Although a visibly stunned Thomas Müller insisted after full time on Tuesday that “an [equalising] goal wasn’t in the air”, Samuel Chukwueze’s late goal for Villarreal that ousted Bayern Munich from the Champions League was a sucker punch via a predictable route.
Although on paper Bayern had breezed past Red Bull Salzburg in the previous round, they had diced with danger – Kingsley Coman equalising late in the first leg after Salzburg had worn themselves out. Matthias Jaissle’s young team even had the better chances early in the Allianz Arena return before shooting themselves in the foot defensively. Unai Emery’s Villarreal had the experience and sang-froid that the Austrian champions hadn’t. Domestically in recent weeks, Bayern have offered Borussia Dortmund routes back into the Bundesliga title race that Marco Rose’s side haven’t been good enough to take.
