Olic hat-trick sends Bayern through to Madrid final

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LYON - Ivica Olic scored a hat-trick to send German Bundesliga side Bayern Munich through to the Champions League final with a 3-0 victory at Olympique Lyon.

The four-time champions Tuesday won the tie 4-0 on aggregate against the French side, who ended the game with ten men after captain Cris was sent off in the second half.

Their opponents in the final, which will be held in Madrid May 22 will be determined in Wednesday’s other semi-final return leg between the holders Barcelona and Inter Milan, with the Serie A side leading 3-1 from the first leg.

Bayern are in line for three titles, as they will contest the German cup final against Werder Bremen a week before the game in Madrid. They are also well-placed in the Bundesliga, where they are first on goal difference from Schalke 04 with two games to go.

Their coach Louis van Gaal, however, warned that the club had not yet won anything. “We are well positioned, but we have not won anything.

“I was in a similar situation with Barcelona once, when it seemed that we could win many things, but in the end we won nothing, even though it was one of their best seasons.”

The Dutch coach said that he hoped they would face Inter Milan in the final. “I think we can play better against them. We will stand a chance against Milan.”

Van Gaal, who had Inter coach Jose Mourinho as his assistant during his stint as Barcelona coach, said it would be a fitting final in Madrid. “Two Barcelona coaches in a final in Madrid after Barcelona is knocked out. That would be special,” he said.

The team from Bavaria, who had a slight advantage from the first leg, should have scored early on through Thomas Mueller who was set up by Olic, but pulled his shot just wide.

In the 26th minute the two players reversed their roles as Mueller was sent down the left by Dutch international Arjen Robben and played the ball into the box, where Olic seemed to at first have lost the ball, but he turned around and beat Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris at the second attempt.

Surprisingly the home side, who had to win the match to qualify for the final, seldom put the Bayern defence under any real pressure and goalkeeper Joerg Butt had virtually nothing to do in the first half.

Any hopes Lyon had of staging a dramatic come-back were effectively quashed in the 59th minute when Brazilian defender Cris was sent off.

He was initially shown a yellow card by Swiss referee Massimo Busacca for a foul on Olic, but after applauding the decision, he was immediately given a second booking and sent off.

A minute later Sidney Govou nearly levelled for the home side with a well-taken long-range effort that Butt did well to push to the side.

Bayern put the game beyond doubt in the 67th minute when Hamit Altintop sent Olic down the left flank and the Croatian unleashed a powerful shot from an acute angle that beat Lloris.

With 12 minutes to go Olic made sure of his hat-trick when he rose to head home a Philipp Lahm cross. He injured himself in the process, receiving a cut to his head, but refused to go off.

“I thought I could still score a few more goals so I did not want to go off. The doctor said he will put in some stitches later on.”

Olic, who is only the second player to score a hat-trick in a Champions League semi-final after Alessandro Del Piero, said that he enjoyed the game.

“In a game like this when the side is doing so well it is just fun to play upfront. I am so happy that we are in the final in Madrid, now we are hoping to win the title.”

Like van Gaal, Bayern star Robben said he was hoping to face Inter in the final. “I think we will have problems against Barcelona, but also because I want to play against Mourinho and my Dutch team-mate Wesley Sneijder and I hope that he will also reach the final.”

Robben, who twice lost in the semi-finals with Chelsea, said that he had spoken about it with the other players. “I told them such an opportunity does not come around that often. I am very proud and so happy to be in the final for the first time.”

To their credit, the capacity 40,000 crowd in the Gerland stadium continued to cheer their side and celebrated their side as if they had won at the end.

For Bayern it will be an eighth appearance in the final of the showpiece of European club football, with four wins.