A Thiago Alcantara strike and Sandro Wagner’s first Champions League goal capped Bayern Munich’s 3-1 win at Besiktas on Wednesday as the German giants cruised into the quarter-finals for the seventh year in a row.
Bayern completed a comprehensive 8-1 aggregate victory in Istanbul, having effectively clinched the last-16 tie following a 5-0 rout last month in the first leg in Munich.
For Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes, who replaced Carlo Ancelotti in October, this was his 11th straight win in the Champions League which set a new competition record.
“It was a convincing result,” said Heynckes. “Besiktas hadn’t lost here in the Champions League, so it wasn’t easy.
“We scored at the right times and it’s normal that we dropped off a little – losing some focus after winning 5-0 is just human.
“The only negative today is that we picked up too many yellow cards,” he added after defenders Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels and Rafinha all earned bookings.
After Thiago fired home early on, an own goal by Besiktas right-back Gokhan Gonul put Bayern 2-0 up right at the start of the second half.
With their team 7-0 down overall, Besiktas finally came to life, grabbing a consolation goal by Vagner Love.
But Bayern notched their third of the evening when back-up striker Sandro Wagner came off the bench to mark his Champions League debut with his first goal at this level.
“It was a really hectic game,” said Bayern captain Thomas Mueller.
“We lost the ball a lot, especially in the second half and we didn’t have the structure in our game that we had wanted.”
Having resisted the urge to name a weakened team after their first-leg romp, Bayern wasted little time taking the lead against the Turkish champions.
Injury worry for Alcantara
Bayern Munich are now waiting on Alcantara after the Spain midfielder picked up a new injury at Besiktas.
The 26-year-old went off on 35 minutes after scoring Bayern’s opening goal.
Thiago’s injury dampened the celebrations ahead of tough Bundesliga games against RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund in the coming weeks.
“Thiago didn’t come off as a precautionary measure,” admitted Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes.
“He said he felt a pain on the sole of his foot, but the first assessment is not that bad.”
Bayern hope a scan on Thiago’s foot will not mean another lengthy lay off after he missed 13 games up until mid-February with a leg injury.
The injury-prone Spain star, who also missed half a year with a torn a knee ligament in 2015, claimed Bayern’s 100th goal this season on 18 minutes before injury struck.
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