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Arnaut Danjuma scored the only goal of the game as Villarreal edged past Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie on Wednesday.
Villarreal, playing in their first last-eight tie since the 2008-09 season, started superbly and opened the scoring inside 10 minutes courtesy of Danjuma’s sixth Champions League goal of the season.
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Francis Coquelin had an effort ruled out for offside and Gerard Moreno struck the post as Unai Emery’s side dominated at the Estadio de la Ceramica.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side scarcely looked like finding a leveller and they will have to improve dramatically in next week’s return fixture if they are to progress to the last four.
Villarreal’s electric start was rewarded in the eighth minute when Danjuma steered home Daniel Parejo’s mis-hit shot from six yards.
Coquelin found the back of the net with a looping cross that caught Manuel Neuer out shortly before half-time, yet the Bayern goalkeeper’s blushes were spared thanks to a VAR review that showed the Villarreal midfielder had been marginally offside.
The Bundesliga leaders were well off the pace in the first half and went in at the break having failed to register a single shot on target.
Serge Gnabry flashed wide shortly after the interval, while at the other end Moreno struck the base of the post with a dipping strike from 25 yards.
Moreno went agonisingly close to a breathtaking goal on the hour mark, the Spain international whipping just wide from inside his half after a sloppy pass from Neuer – the closest either side came to a goal in the final 30 minutes.
Opta Facts
This was Villarreal’s first home win in the Champions League knockout stages since April 2006 (1-0 v Inter Milan), while they have never lost a home game beyond the group stages in the competition (P7 W2 D5).
Bayern have failed to progress from each of their last five ties in the Champions League knockout stages when they have lost in the first leg, with four of those five eliminations coming against Spanish teams (Barcelona in 2014-15, Atletico Madrid in 2015-16 and Real Madrid in 2016-17 and 2017-18).
Villarreal head coach Emery has won consecutive games in the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career (3-0 v Juventus, 1-0 v Bayern Munich), after only winning one of his first seven games beyond the group stages in the competition (W1 D2 L4).
Bayern failed to score in a Champions League game for the first time since February 2019 (0-0 v Liverpool), ending a run of 30 consecutive games in which they had scored at least once.
Bayern did not manage an attempt on target in this game until the 59th minute. Before tonight, the average time of their first shot on target in the Champions League this was season was the 12th minute.