Bayern Munich cruised into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League with an emphatic 7-0 win over 10-man Shakhtar Donetsk at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday. Having been held to a goalless draw in the first leg, Bayern went into the return meeting of the last-16 clash with work to do. But they were given a significant helping hand in the third minute when Shakhtar defender Olexandr Kucher was shown a straight red card – the quickest in Champions League history – for a foul on Mario Gotze. Thomas Muller stepped up to convert the resulting penalty and from there it was little more than a procession for the Bundesliga champions. Jerome Boateng doubled the lead in the 34th minute with a close-range effort before Bayern found another gear in the second half. Franck Ribery capped off a well-worked move to make it 3-0 in the 49th minute, with a second from Muller, a Holger Badstuber header, a Robert Lewandowski strike and Gotze’s effort putting the gloss on the victory on a night where injuries to Arjen Robben and Ribery were the only concern for the hosts. Kucher’s rash challenge on Gotze and subsequent dismissal immediately gave Shakhtar a mountain to climb, with Muller making no mistake with his fourth-minute spot-kick as he stepped up and coolly slotted the ball into the bottom-left corner. Bayern would have made it two had Robben been able to connect with Lewandowski’s pull-back with the goal at his mercy. Sensing the prospect of being overrun by the extra man, Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu made a defensive change as Sergey Krivtsov replaced winger Taison in the ninth minute. Robben was then brought off and replaced by Sebastian Rode because of a trapped nerve, but Bayern continued to enjoy almost complete domination and were initially denied a second by the woodwork. Lewandowski struck the upright with a header from Rafinha’s right-wing cross, but Bayern’s constant pressure told as Boateng bundled the ball home at the far post after the Pole had been denied from point-blank range. And any slim hope of a Shakhtar comeback was extinguished four minutes after the restart by quick goals from Ribery and Muller.
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