体坛英语新闻：News analysis: Bayern's European disaster in Porto

BERLIN April 15 (Xinhua) -- It might be hard to accept for Pep Guardiola, but Bayern Munich is obviously much more dependent on its brilliant wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery than previously considered.

After a disastrous 3-1 defeat (goals by Ricardo Quaresma 4th/penalty and 10th minute and Jackson Martinez in the 65th - Thiago scored for Bayern 28th) in the first leg of Champions League quarterfinal against Portugal's FC Porto, the Spaniard's dream of winning this season's Champions League appears to be in great jeopardy as it seems highly unlikely that the Germans will proceed to the semifinals.

Bayern now needs a clean 2-0 victory in the second leg match next Tuesday to advance to the next round.

It seems obvious after this Wednesday night: Bayern won't be among the favorites to win this season's Champions League without both Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery. Bayern scored an average of 3.0 goals when both were playing as compared to only 1.7 without them, they won 2.6 points when the Dutch and French strikers were on the pitch and the chance to win a game was at 82.8 per cent with Robben/Ribery and only 58.3 per cent without them.

2013 Champions League winner Bayern managed to gradually stabilize their game after Porto had surprisingly gone 2-0 up after only ten minutes. But teams like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid can deliver a much higher quality than Porto. Meaning: To be 2-0 down against one of the so-called big guns will be the end of all Bayern's dreams of wining the final in Germany's capital Berlin on June 6.

As expected Bayern coach Pep Guardiola choose a midfield diamond (Alonso - Philipp Lahm, Thiago - Mario Goetze) to support the central forward Robert Lewandowski, and next to him Thomas Mueller, a strategy which lately seemed to work well in the Bundesliga and the German Cup. It compensated for the loss of the injured Robben and Riberym and David Alaba.

This time in Porto, Bayern's problem of putting the opponent under pressure turned out to be a heavy burden after Porto surprised the Germans with an aggressive pressing game. Porto's defense took up position up to 40 meters in front of their own goal.

Bayern still had more ball possession, up to 70 per cent, but lost two thirds of the man on man duels during the first 20 minutes.

Being 2-0 down, Bayern had to intensify their offense, and had to open up at the back which lead to Porto's third goal (65th). It was Martinez's 32nd goal of the season so far.

Guardiola expected the Porto game to be far from a piece of cake, but looking at his team Guardiola must have been shocked by the mistakes his defense made.

Firstly the experienced Alonso lost the ball on the edge of Bayern's box. And Manuel Neuer was lucky not to be sent off for the resulting foul. Then Dante gave away the ball in one of his many dark moments. And on top of everything, Jerome Boateng missed a header to let Porto in for their third.

It is still possible to turn things around in the second leg match but the situation could not be tighter than it is now.

Bayern's strategy to rely on Lewandowski, who had previously scored nine goals in the last eight games, failed totally. Bayern had far too less chances to score. To be precise, there were only two in the 90 minutes, nothing to be proud of.

"A 3-1 defeat is not a result we're happy about, a 2-1 would have been much better, but I still see good chances for the second match," said Bayern captain Philipp Lahm.

"One thing is clear, we must create much more chances than we did today," Lahm added. "I'm optimistic because Porto did not create many chances, they scored after we made mistakes. There were too many presents for Porto today."

Bayern striker Thomas Mueller said: "It was hard to take being 2-0 behind and we did not manage to improve after the break. But I see one positive fact: Everyone knows now what we have to do if we are to reach the semifinal."

Former world class keeper Oliver Kahn is worried when Bayern has to play without Robben and Ribery. "It is not only their individual class but it is the deep respect opponents have when they have to play against such outstanding guys like the two of them. When both are not on the pitch you are not that confident anymore," said the former German international keeper.

Porto's midfield, a chain of five, gave Bayern no space and Bayern did not manage to get any real pace into their game. There was also not enough movement and finding space.

In their attacking game Porto went at Bayern quickly and they struggled. The Germans did not manage to create a way of counteracting Porto's pressing game. Due to many injured players defender Boateng had to move to midfield after Alonso had to be substituted (74th).

What speaks for Bayern now: They won 18 of their last 20 Champions League games at home and Porto did not win one of its 8 away-games in the knock-out phase of the Champions League. And midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger will most likely be back, an important fact as Thiago seemed to be not fully fit after his long injury break.