the visitors all but booked their place in the quarter-finals with a stunning display of attacking football, franck ribéry and luca toni each scoring two.
by andy brassell from estádio josé alvalade
fc bayern münchen recovered from a difficult start to produce a scintillating display of attacking football in lisbon – franck ribéry and luca toni both scoring twice as they all but secured a place in the uefa champions league quarter-finals at the expense of sporting clube de portugal.
devastating after surviving an early scare when philipp lahm headed anderson polga's effort off the line, the imperious ribéry helped the visitors take control, scoring either side of the interval with miroslav klose also netting in the 57th minute. toni rounded off a devastating team performance with a late double to maintain bayern's strong record against portuguese opposition, while paulo bento's sporting were left without a win against bundesliga sides in 15 attempts ahead of the second leg in munich on 10 march.
sporting start brighter amid a lively atmosphere the hosts began confidently, enjoying the majority of possession and having the first effort on goal when fábio rochemback's long-range strike was deflected wide. in the 12th minute sporting came closer still, polga finding space in the area from leandro romagnoli's corner, but his shot was headed off the line by lahm with visiting goalkeeper michael rensing well beaten.
bayern pressure ribéry had the german club's first sight of goal two minutes later, volleying klose's headed flick wide, yet the relief was only temporary as bento's men sped straight down the other end, liedson firing over. ribéry, however, was becoming an increasingly prominent presence as bayern won a succession of corners, before zé roberto slipped unnoticed around the back of the sporting defence to deliver a dangerous left-wing cross that polga hacked clear with toni lurking.
ribéry strikes sporting refused to be cowed by more experienced opponents, liedson again menacing as his right-foot attempt drifted wide before joão moutinho nearly rounded off more attractive movement from the lions, rifling past the far post from a tight angle. all sporting's good work was undone in the 42nd minute, however, when derlei's loose crossfield ball was intercepted by ribéry and the frenchman made him pay, evading two defenders to race clear and shoot low through the legs of tiago.
klose on target bayern kicked off the second period in confident fashion, toni almost applying a decisive touch to ribéry's searching cross. after derlei and abel had threatened a sporting riposte, jürgen klinsmann's charges moved to kill the match and took a giant step towards the quarter-finals three minutes before the hour. klose touched in massimo oddo's right-wing centre at the far post for his sixth goal in this season's competition.
late fourth six minutes later, the away team confirmed their superiority. lahm's surge into the box was halted by rochemback's late challenge and ribéry showed his clinical side for the second time, stroking in the spot-kick. klose then headed another lahm delivery over, but bayern were not to be denied, the effervescent ribéry supplying the centre for toni to nod a fourth with six minutes to play. the french and italian internationals combined again in added time, toni beating tiago at the second attempt to crown bayern's perfect night.
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