A World Cup is a better place for the Brazilians, but this one has lost two in 24 hours. The day after Botafogo fell to Palmerias, Flamengo departed too, cut down by Harry Kane.
That sea of red and black will be missed and their team will too: the side who beat Chelsea showed that was not by chance, as they made a game of this one, scoring twice at the Hard Rock Stadium, their fans banging drums and their coach declaring his pride at how they had played. But it was Bayern Munich who progressed.
“It is about moments and we took our moments very well,” the England captain said. “We stayed calm, and scored our goals at the right time.” He scored two of them, finally securing a victory when he scored his second with quarter of an hour left, a goal which, in his own words, “eased the last 10 minutes” of an afternoon that had been far from easy. His brace, a Leon Goretzka strike and an Erick Pulgar own goal saw it finish 4-2, setting up a meeting with Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight.
For Flamengo there was a noisy farewell and as they wound their way down the ramps at the end, songs echoed off the stands. Filipe Luís, the coach, said that they they had in the end been beaten by a “superior team”, a “real colossus” but that they had played their way. Their way was good too, good enough that they may feel that justice was not entirely done and reflect on the part they played in their own downfall, even if Luís insisted that the errors that proved decisive in the end were forced by an opponent that is “absolutely elite”. They racked up more shots than Bayern, yet also slipped 2-0 and 3-1 down in the first half and, ultimately left too much to do. When Kane added the fourth, it was done.
The first of Bayern’s four came after just six minutes and two more followed before the break, aided by an apparent nervousness about their opponents when pressure was applied and a willingness to take risks playing out. Agustín Rossi had already been forced to backpedal to reach an inswinging corner, seen a clearance hit Pulgar to set up a Joshua Kimmich shot, and gratefully watched a punch away hit a black balloon rather than setting up another dangerous delivery when they conceded an own goal opener. Jumping by Goretzka, the hint of a hand in his back, Gonzalo Plata succeeded only in deflecting the ball off the top of his head and into the net.
Flamengo responded fast, Plata escaping up the right where they advanced often and delivering a cross from which Giorgian de Arrascaeta’s header flew just past the post. There was an aggressiveness and determination to Flamengo that went with the noise their supporters brought and underlined that this would be a proper game. It was, too, even if Bayern were soon two up when Kane took advantage of Dayot Upamecano’s steal, turned and hit a 25-yard shot that flew in off the post, a deflection taking it away from Rossi.
There had been fortune in that and Flamengo certainly would have been entitled to feel unlucky to trail by two then and even more so a moment later when Manuel Neuer made an extraordinary save from Luiz Araújo, flashing out a strong right hand that had he and Kimmich celebrating. Next Leo Pereira struck wide. And not long after that, Araújo superbly controlled somewhere up near his neck, spun and volleyed wide. When Gerson belted a shot first time screeching right through Neuer’s hands to make it 2-1 on half an hour, Flamengo had deserved it.
The problem for Luis’s side were those moments Kane mentioned. Within five minutes, Bayern had scored again, although another poor clearance set it up. It came to Goretzka, lurking outside the area. He controlled on his chest, took one touch and then, despite the distance, opened up his body to disguise the direction of the shot and calmly yet firmly side-footed into the corner.
Flamengo kept coming, and got back in it early in the second half when Michael Olise blocked a cross with his arm to concede. A hop, a pause, and without a look Jorginho sent Neuer the wrong way, side-footing his penalty into the corner. Soon Bruno Henrique escaped behind the Bayern defence, but couldn’t guide his shot on target. The Brazilians behind the goal sensed an opportunity – “the fans are a big part of it,” Kane said after – and roared their team on but then came another of those moments, another error ruthlessly exposed.
Dribbling out from deep, Araújo just about escaped the first challenge but couldn’t escape the second. Konrad Laimer won the ball, Kimmich gave it to Kane and that was only going to end one way, the finish so clean, the job done his way.
