Champions League Round of 16 - 2018/19: 5 things that nobody expected to happen

#5 Liverpool eliminating Bayern Munich by beating them in their own ground

Nobody expected Liverpool to beat Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena

Liverpool’s tie with Bayern Munich was arguably the closest one to call in the whole Round of 16, as the German side have been perennial contenders for the Champions League for what feels like forever now, while Jurgen Klopp’s Reds made the final last season. Liverpool’s patchy form in the group stages – they lost 3 games – perhaps gave Niko Kovac’s side a slight advantage.

A 0-0 first leg at Anfield meant that Bayern appeared to hold all the cards going into the second leg at the Allianz Arena, despite not picking up an all-important away goal. After all, the only team to beat Bayern at home in the past 4 editions of the Champions League had been Real Madrid, and both times that happened, Real had gone on to win the famous trophy.

Liverpool knew they only needed a score draw to go through though, and sure enough a Sadio Mane goal – from a rare error from keeper Manuel Neuer – put the Reds ahead in the first half. Bayern equalized through a Joel Matip own goal just 13 minutes later, however, and you’d have been forgiven for expecting Liverpool to simply sit back and play the draw out.

That’s clearly not Jurgen Klopp’s style, however, and his side continued to boss the game, eventually scoring 2 goals in the second half through Virgil Van Dijk and Mane to hand them a 1-3 victory. While Liverpool getting through the tie unscathed wasn’t a massive upset, to see them do it by defeating Bayern on home turf was something nobody expected going in – and could bode well for the Reds’ Champions League hopes.