Guardiola dedicates Juventus thriller to Bayern fans

Pep Guardiola dedicated Bayern Munich’s Champions League progressionto the quarter-finals to the Allianz Arena faithful after a stunning 4-2 extra-time win over Juventus.

Bayern prevailed 6-4 on aggregate on home soil as Thiago Alcantara and Kingsley Coman struck in the additional period forced by Thomas Muller’s 91st-minute equaliser on Wednesday.

Goals from Paul Pogba and Juan Cuadrado had put a slick counter-attacking Juve 2-0 up before the interval before Robert Lewandowski started the thrilling comeback in the second half.

It had looked at one point as though Bayern would be beaten in the last 16 and Guardiola’s chances of leaving the German giants with a Champions League crown would be dashed, but the three-time European Cup-winning coach remains hopeful.

“This was a great game for the fans,” Guardiola said. “We played against the finalist of last year and knew they are a great team. 

“I have to give a big compliment to my team. It’s very complicated to win against an Italian team after going 2-0 down.”

Philipp Lahm echoed many of his coach’s sentiments, but pointed to a stunning Manuel Neuer save off Cuadrado just before half-time as a turning point.

“First of all thanks to the crowd, “Lahm added. “It was an incredible atmosphere and the fans pushed us forward.

“You can see how close it is between the top teams, we could have conceded a third goal just before half-time.

“But we knew we could make it from two goals down, the players who came on did an outstanding job.

“It was an incredible night.”