MUNICH: Luis Diaz scored in stoppage time to help Bayern Munich bounce back from Wednesday’s Champions League loss to Arsenal in a 3-1 comeback home win over St. Pauli on Saturday.
Suspended for the Arsenal defeat — Bayern’s first in any competition this season — Diaz headed in a Harry Kane cross to send Bayern in front in the third minute of injury time.
Nicolas Jackson then scored four minutes later to add gloss to the victory as Bayern avoided dropping points for just the second time this Bundesliga season.
Earlier, Diaz created Bayern’s equalizer for Raphael Guerreiro before half-time, after Andreas Hountondji had given lowly Pauli a surprise lead six minutes in.
RB Leipzig’s scoreless draw at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Friday means Bayern will finish the round eight points clear atop the table.
Veteran Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer credited his side’s “belief.”
“We kept going after we went behind and were unlucky to hit the post three times. The late goals were a relief” Neuer said.
Arriving in Munich after a club record eight straight Bundesliga defeats, Pauli took the lead early.
The visitors forced Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich into a mistake in midfield and Hountondji outmuscled Kim Min-jae to claim the ball before scoring past Manuel Neuer at the near post.
Bayern youngsters Lennart Karl and Tom Bischof took turns hitting the post before Diaz acrobatically created the leveller.
Redeeming himself for his early mistake, Kim chipped a long pass to Diaz in the box. The Colombian fell but somehow squeezed the ball to Guerreiro, who blasted in from close range.
Kane hit the woodwork with 10 minutes remaining but was crucial in Diaz’s late strike, lofting a ball goalwards for the former Liverpool forward to head home, before Chelsea loanee Jackson added a third with the final kick of the match.
Elsewhere, Heidenheim scored twice after the 90th minute to snatch a 2-1 away win at Union Berlin and climb off the foot of the table.
Germany starlet Said El Mala scored a stoppage-time equalizer for promoted Cologne in a 1-1 draw away at Werder Bremen.
Hoffenheim jumped up to fourth in the table with a 3-0 home win over floundering Augsburg, who are winless since early October.
Later on Saturday, Bayer Leverkusen face Borussia Dortmund at home and can draw level on points with second-placed RB Leipzig with victory.
Diaz late show helps Bayern rebound from Arsenal loss
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Diaz late show helps Bayern rebound from Arsenal loss
- Diaz headed in a Harry Kane cross to send Bayern in front in the third minute of injury time
- Nicolas Jackson then scored four minutes later to add gloss to the victory as Bayern avoided dropping points
Real Madrid to play Benfica, PSG face Monaco in Champions League play-offs
- Real Madrid were handed a quick rematch with Jose Mourinho’s Benfica in the draw for the Champions League play-off round on Friday, while reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain will face dome
PARIS: Real Madrid were handed a quick rematch with Jose Mourinho’s Benfica in the draw for the Champions League play-off round on Friday, while reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain will face domestic rivals Monaco.
Benfica beat Real 4-2 in their final game of the league phase on Wednesday, with a 98th-minute goal by goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin proving decisive in allowing the Portuguese side to snatch the last play-off spot ahead of Marseille, who were eliminated altogether.
The defeat also nudged Madrid out of the top eight places in the league standings, which give direct access to the last 16, forcing them into this extra round.
Benfica staged a remarkable recovery to take a play-off place — they finished 24th in the 36-team league phase, the last qualifying spot — by winning three of their last four matches after losing their opening four games.
Mourinho, 63, returned to the Lisbon giants for a second spell as coach in September. He was in charge of Real from 2010 to 2013 and won one La Liga title and one Copa del Rey while also taking them to the Champions League semifinals in each of his three campaigns.
The clubs played each other in the 1962 European Cup final, with Benfica winning 5-3 to claim the last of their two titles to date.
PSG slipped out of the top eight after winning only one of their last five outings in the league phase and finishing in 11th place.
They will go to Monaco for the first leg and will be wary of the principality side who beat them there in Ligue 1 in November.
However, 2004 Champions League finalists Monaco have been in poor form, with just one win in six games since the turn of the year.
They are 10th in Ligue 1, 21 points behind leaders PSG. However, a 0-0 draw with Juventus on Wednesday allowed them to secure a play-off place in Europe.
Newcastle go to Azerbaijan
PSG also beat French opposition in the play-off round last season, hammering Brest 10-0 on aggregate before going on to lift the trophy for the first time in their history.
Elsewhere, Newcastle United will be strong favorites against surprise packages Qarabag of Azerbaijan, with the first leg to come in Baku.
PSG and Newcastle know that if they win, they will play either Barcelona or Chelsea in the last 16. Real’s possible last-16 opponents are Manchester City or Sporting, which would mean yet another trip to Lisbon in the latter case.
Bodo/Glimt, Norwegian champions in four of the last six years, were also surprise qualifiers for this stage and have been rewarded with a tie against last season’s runners-up Inter Milan.
Juventus will take on Galatasaray, while Atletico Madrid face Club Brugge. Borussia Dortmund play Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen were drawn against Olympiacos.
The two-legged play-off ties will take place in February, with the winners advancing to the last 16 in March.
Already through to that stage are the top eight teams from the league phase, including five English Premier League sides in Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and City, as well as Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Sporting.
This season’s Champions League final will be played in Budapest on May 30.
