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Three Things: Bayern Munich vs. Manchester United

MUNICH -- Reaction to Bayern Munich's 3-1 win vs. Manchester United on Wednesday, which sees the defending champions advance to the Champions League semifinals 4-2 on aggregate.

1. The Stars of the South

At the final whistle, Willy Astor’s Bayern Munich anthem blared out across a rocking Allianz Arena, as it had just before the game began. “Who always handles the big pressure?” the lyrics asked, the crowd enthusiastically answering “FC Bayern Munich, Star of the South.” With their backs against the wall after Manchester United’s second-half sucker punch, Bayern’s big names stepped up to take them to the Champions League semifinals for a third successive season.

United defender Patrice Evra’s unlikely goal -- a magnificent thwack from the Frenchman that sailed high into keeper Manuel Neuer’s net -- injected United fans with an even unlikelier belief that it could be they and not the reigning champions of Europe who would be competing alongside Chelsea, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the last four.

That hope was extinguished just 71 seconds later as Franck Ribery, who had been kept at bay by Phil Jones all night, crossed for Mario Mandzukic to head home an immediate equaliser. United defender Chris Smalling, like Jones, had previously done an equally sterling job of shackling his man. But it proved one cross too many and Mandzukic, who had come off the bench to create Bastian Schweinsteiger’s equaliser last week, demonstrated his aerial prowess again.

A lack of adventure and a seeming reluctance to really run at their respective full-backs had characterised Ribery and Arjen Robben's games until the Frenchman finally took the tie by the scruff of the neck for the leveler.

Encouraged by his teammate, Robben followed suit minutes later. Evra was flat-footed -- a stance he has occupied a few too many times in what is surely his final season at United -- and the Dutch winger ruthlessly took advantage, squaring for Thomas Mueller to put Bayern in control of the tie.

Robben slotted Bayern’s third goal past United keeper David de Gea to complete a resounding 17-minute spell and move the Stars of the South one step closer to a spot at Lisbon’s Stadium of Light in May.

2. 2014: A tactical odyssey

Bayern manager Pep Guardiola is now a dab hand at dealing with accusations of “predictability”: that he encourages his teams to pass their opponents into submission and fails to possess an adequate backup plan when that approach doesn’t work. It must have grown tiresome for the Catalan, who was facing a familiar narrative in the buildup to the second leg after the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, with past Champions League failures from his Barcelona days -- vs. Inter Milan and Chelsea -- again dredged up.

But anyone who has watched Bayern with any regularity this season knows that Guardiola is far from one-dimensional. In pursuit of finding not just a perfect formula, but multiple formulae, he has regularly tinkered with formations and personnel. Like the tactical equivalent of Dr. Emmett Brown of "Back to the Future," Guardiola is a pioneer who cares little what the outside world makes of his theories and experiments.

Against United, the Allianz Arena crowd were treated to an inventive offering from Pep’s playbook. When Bayern had the ball, Philipp Lahm and David Alaba moved in-field and upfield into a double pivot, sandwiching Toni Kroos at the base of midfield and packing the centre of the park.

Lahm, in particular, saw plenty of the ball in advanced positions as Ribery and Robben hugged either touchline. The 2-3-5 was impressive for its ingenuity, and though its effectiveness appeared in question as Bayern struggled to break down United’s resistance in the first half, it ultimately brought success for the revolutionary Guardiola, who would not have to endure another news conference dominated by idioms related to manoeuvring large vehicles.

3. The Rooney gamble

Wayne Rooney has previous experience when it comes to playing half-fit against Bayern: In 2010, Sir Alex Ferguson rushed his talisman back from a first-leg ankle problem to feature in the return match with the Bavarians. Fast-forward four years, and Rooney was again thrown back into the thick of things with question marks hanging over just how quickly he had managed to recover from a toe injury.

Rooney displayed plenty of his usual tenacity but still looked unmistakably off the pace at the Allianz Arena. While Ferguson recognised his limitations against Bayern back then, withdrawing Rooney after 55 minutes, David Moyes persevered with United’s No. 10 until the end. Rooney looked exhausted at the final whistle, and keeping him on for the 90 minutes appeared an erroneous decision from Moyes.

“I was concerned he hadn’t trained all week.” Moyes said after the game. “I thought at times tonight he looked like he was struggling to strike the ball on a couple of occasions. But he’s just so important to the team, particularly with Robin van Persie out. ”

United fans were certainly left wondering if it may have been more beneficial to bring on Adnan Januzaj or Javier Hernandez to replace the fatigued Rooney. Chasing the game, the visitors were crying out for another creative outlet to complement the tireless running of Danny Welbeck and Antonio Valencia, and the enterprise of Shinji Kagawa, who once again impressed on German soil after dominating Leverkusen in November.

Kagawa was one of a number of United players who came out of a spirited display with credit. Jones and Smalling also showed promise, with their performances described as “outstanding” by Moyes, while Darren Fletcher demonstrated that, should he remain fit, his unerring work rate always ensures he is a valuable addition to the midfield.