With a 4–3 aggregate loss to Simone Inzaghi’s Inter Milan on Wednesday night, Bayern Munich was eliminated from the Champions League, and left-back Josip Stanisic may face repercussions from UEFA for pushing a ball boy off his stool.
Despite taking the lead through the talismanic Harry Kane in the 52nd minute, the Bavarians, spearheaded by Vincent Kompany, were unable to overcome their one-goal disadvantage from the first leg, and the Nerazzurri quickly started to turn the tide.
Benjamin Pavard, who was once a member of the Bundesliga team, increased his team’s lead to two goals across both legs after the inevitable Lautaro Martinez scored his 21st goal of the season just six minutes after the visitors had taken the lead at San Siro.
Despite their flurry of efforts in the second half, Kompany’s team failed to score a much-needed winner in the Italian capital and were eliminated from the competition. Eric Dier’s fantastic header in the 76th minute proved to be little more than a consolation.
All 11 players adopted a win-at-all-costs mentality as Bayern chased that crucial goal, and it was evident when 25-year-old Stanisic ran after the ball and the ball boy was not paying enough attention to getting play back as soon as possible.
Members of the Inter Milan bench were involved after he shoved the young player off his stool, expressing frustration with the outcome, his team’s performance, and the length of time it was taking for the ball boy to pass the ball to him.
As a result, tensions increased as the match became more intense, but Stanisic managed to avoid receiving a yellow card, and one of the home team’s staff members entered the referee’s notebook after becoming enraged at the altercation.
Stanisic, who has received accolades from the Allianz Arena supporters for his performances in both matches, later acknowledged that his reaction was “a bit stupid.” The 22-cap Croatian player stated in his post-match interview, according to The Metro:
“When leading, every team in the world wastes time. I was a little foolish for pushing him there.
In the semi-finals, the defending Serie A champions will face Barcelona, headed by Hansi Flick, who overcame a terrifying scare against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night. Bayern Munich is once again focused on Bundesliga issues.
In other news, Kompany said his team fought hard in both matches, but their chances were eventually hurt by the absence of important players. We had two good games last Tuesday and tonight in a major stadium like San Siro, he remarked.
“I’m not talking about the outcome, but I believe we showed a good Bayern Munich in the first game without key players like [Jamal] Musiala, [Manuel] Neuer, and with [Kingsley] Coman and [Strahinja] Pavlovic not playing at their best.”
The former Burnley head coach came to the conclusion that, “We also showed a positive attitude in the second game in Milan, today we had very positive feelings and we received great support from the fans.”
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