olić treble takes brilliant bayern to madrid published: tuesday 27 april 2010, 22.30cet
the german giants reached an eighth european champion clubs' cup final, ivica olić's hat-trick crowning an imperious display.
a stunning hat-trick from ivica olić capped a majestic performance from fc bayern münchen who impressively brushed aside ten-man olympique lyonnais to book their place in the uefa champions league final.
already leading thanks to arjen robben's solitary first-leg goal, the four-time european champions never looked like surrendering their advantage as they picked up where they had left off in munich with another dominant display. from the moment olić slotted in his first on 26 minutes lyon were fighting a desperate battle, and when the french side lost skipper cris to a red card just before the hour, bayern merely had to bang nails into ol's coffin. olić duly obliged, scoring his second midway through the second half before completing his treble on 78 minutes.
appearing in their first uefa champions league semi-final, les gones looked nervous early on, surrendering possession too easily and often in dangerous areas. indeed, the visitors almost capitalised in only the second minute when olić dispossessed cris and crossed for the unmarked thomas müller who somehow side-footed wide of the near post.
although maxime gonalons rifled over, the better chances were falling to the bavarian outfit, robben's quick throw finding müller in the box again only for the young forward to flash a low effort across goal from an acute angle. despite fielding a more attacking side than a week ago, ol again struggled to get support to lisandro as bayern – thanks in no small part to returning captain mark van bommel – took charge.
louis van gaal's men were rewarded for their positive opening when olić scored the all-important away goal on 26 minutes. the build-up was superb, müller exchanging passes with robben and surging into the box before cutting the ball back to the croatia striker, whose fifth goal of the campaign left the hosts needing three. they could ill-afford to squander clear openings yet michel bastos did just that on 31 minutes, steering his close-range volley wide having been picked out by jean ii makoun's cross from the right.
lyon had created little else in the first half, prompting claude puel to send on a second forward, bafétimbi gomis, at the break, when van gaal replaced the injured daniel van buyten with martín demichelis. gomis might have made an instant impact but the french international sent a volley skywards from gonalons' pinpoint cross.
spaces were opening up and bayern twice went close to doubling their lead when bastian schweinsteiger struck narrowly over before robben's placed attempt was pushed round the post by hugo lloris. lyon were showing spirit yet their chances of staging a dramatic fightback were dealt another heavy blow on 59 minutes as cris was booked for a foul on olić and then issued a second yellow card for dissent.
the sight of their inspirational captain trudging off effectively signalled the end of lyon's chances. olić made sure by adding two more excellently taken goals. hamit altıntop's through ball laid on the first, the 30-year-old forward hitting a crisp, low shot beyond lloris before heading in philipp lahm's right-sided cross 11 minutes later to confirm bayern's place in an eighth european champion clubs' cup final in considerable style.
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