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CL PHOTOS: Gomez scores four as Bayern humble Basel
Mario Gomez scored four opportunist goals as Bayern Munich shattered Champions League records and ruthlessly ended Basel's surprise run with a 7-0 win on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals.
The rampant Bavarians handsomely avenged their shock 1-0 first-leg last 16 defeat against the Swiss champions to go through 7-1 on aggregate and keep alive their dream of playing the final in their own Allianz Arena stadium.
It was the biggest winning margin in a Champions League knockout round match, Bayern's biggest win in the competition and Basel's heaviest European defeat.
Basel had qualified for this stage at the expense of Manchester United but some dreadful defending meant their hopes of becoming the first Swiss team to reach the last eight for 33 years were in tatters by halftime.
Goals galore for Bayern
Arjen Robben, Thomas Mueller and Gomez put Bayern 3-0 ahead by the break before Gomez added three more in 18 second-half minutes, all provided by Franck Ribery.
That left the striker one goal short of Lionel Messi's record Champions League haul of five in Barcelona's match against Bayer Leverkusen last week.
It was Gomez's second hat-trick in successive games, after his three goals in the 7-1 win over Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on Saturday, and took his Champions League tally to 10 goals.
Robben completed the scoring with nine minutes left by which time, astonishingly, the sizeable Basel contingent in the crowd were still singing and waving flags.
'We were aggressive, strong and very clever'
"We were aggressive, strong and very clever against a team who can play much better than they did today," said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes, whose side could still win a treble this season.
Basel's clearly shell-shocked coach Heiko Vogel, who suffered only his second defeat since taking over in November, added: "I'm not disappointed that we lost, but I'm enormously disappointed at the way we lost.
"We have achieved a lot, the team has achieved lot and we shouldn't forget this, I don't want our campaign to be reduced to this result."
Basel were unbeaten in their previous 17 matches but playing at a packed Allianz Arena was a far cry from games such as Saturday's Swiss League win over Grasshoppers in front of 7,000 people.
Basel disintegrated as soon as the first goal went in
Before the game, Basel had talked of a new self-belief previously lacking in Swiss teams but they disintegrated as soon as the first goal went in.
Bayern, starting without Bastian Schweinsteiger who has only just recovered from an ankle injury, were in a different class.
Bayern effectively clinched the tie with two goals in three minutes before halftime.
An unmarked Mueller turned in Robben's pass in the 42nd minute after Basel lost possession in midfield and Gomez struck in the 44th, scoring into an empty net after Holger Badstuber, left free at the far post, turned the ball across the face of goal from a free kick.
Bayern began the second half where they left off as Gomez acrobatically volleyed home Ribery's cross in the 50th minute, his most impressive goal of the evening.
The same combination struck again 11 minutes later as Ribery wriggled to the byline and crossed for Gomez, once again unmarked by any defenders, to head home.
Six minutes after that the Frenchman again got to the byline and pulled the ball back for Gomez to fire the sixth.
Schweinsteiger came on and provided the pass for Robben to round off the scoring. Basel's stunned players were left with the dismal rock music that greets every Bayern goal ringing in their ears.
Marseille strike in injury time to thwart Inter
Olympique Marseille served up more late drama when they reached the Champions League last eight for the first time since winning the trophy in 1993 after an action-packed last 20 minutes haunted Inter Milan on Tuesday.
Substitute Brandao scored in stoppage time to send the French side sneaking through on away goals after a 2-1 loss at Inter earned a 2-2 aggregate draw.
Marseille had also snatched the first leg thanks to a stoppage-time header from Andre Ayew.
On Tuesday, Diego Milito's scrappy goal 15 minutes from time had given Inter hope after the hosts had huffed and puffed before finally breaching Marseille's defence. Brandao exposed Inter's defence when he turned on a long ball and confidently netted.
There was even time for Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda to be sent off for a foul in the box and Giampaolo Pazzini to score from the 96th minute penalty.
The spotkick did nothing to change the outcome though and Marseille boss Didier Deschamps could not stop smiling after easing the pressure with his team labouring in eighth in Ligue 1.
'It will be a bit mad in Marseille'
"We had difficult moments, we couldn't score but when I put him on Brandao said to me: 'I am going to score, I am sure,'" Deschamps said.
"To be in the Champions League quarters is fabulous. It will be a bit mad in Marseille," added the former Juventus coach, whose side meet Olympique Lyon in the French League Cup final next month and are also in the French Cup quarter-finals.
Inter boss Claudio Ranieri, who followed Deschamps as Juve boss in 2007, could not believe his side had failed to progress and his position could now be in jeopardy after a string of poor results.
"The team could not have given any more even if we could have had a little more luck. It is always the coach's fault, however, we are paid to take the blame," Ranieri said.
"We have been condemned and I think unjustly, we created more chances in the 180 minutes but this is soccer, the ugliness and beauty of football."
Curtains down for Inter
Inter won their first game in 10 matches in all competitions on Friday when they beat Chievo 2-0 away in Serie A while Marseille had lost all four Ligue 1 games and not scored a goal since the first leg.
The hosts had the first glut of chances at an apprehensive San Siro when Wesley Sneijder's shot from close range was somehow saved by Mandanda, who soon after brilliantly blocked Diego Milito's chested effort from point-blank range.
Marseille, playing in red, gradually grew into the game and a Loic Remy effort flew just wide before Jeremy Morel fired past the post and Souleymane Diawara's header almost crept in.
With Inter boss Ranieri desperate for goals, he replaced the limping Sneijder and ineffective Diego Forlan with Joel Obi and Pazzini just before the hour mark and the ploy looked to have worked until the late flurry of activity.
Struggling Inter -- 2010 European champions -- are already out of the Italian Cup and stand seventh in Serie A, eight points behind the third and final Champions League berth.
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