Bayern Munich cruelly allow Porto to hope and dream after first leg

Two early goals from Ricardo Quaresma and a third from Jackson Martinez in the 65th minute gave Porto a shocking 3-1 home win against Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal. On the surface, this is a dream start for Porto that gives them reason to believe that they can do something that few people thought they could: advance past Bayern to the semifinals. Instead, it’s probably just Bayern being incredibly mean.

Since Thiago provided a valuable away goal, Bayern only need a 2-0 win at the Allianz Arena to burst Porto’s rapidly inflating dream bubble. And even worse for Porto, both of their starting fullbacks — Danilo and Alex Sandro — will be suspended for the second leg.

Though Porto are a talented and underrated team in their own right, this result seems like it’s a part of Pep Guardiola’s grand scheme. Worried that his team wouldn’t be prepared for a greater test in the semifinals after strolling through the two legs against Porto, he gives the Portuguese club a head start, so to speak, in the first leg in order to light a fire under his team for the second that could help propel them all the way to the final.

With a comfortable 10-point lead in the Bundesliga, they need a challenge somewhere in order to remain sharp and avoid the 5-0 aggregate drubbing they suffered against Real Madrid in the semifinals last season. So while Porto celebrated their lead, Guardiola calmly sipped his water, fully aware of his deviousness.

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