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Bayern were favourites to advance to the
Champions League last eight after a superb first half against holders
Inter Milan on Tuesday, following their 1-0 win in Italy in the first
leg.

But defensive weaknesses that
have plagued them all season and a concentration lapse allowed Inter to
come back and win 3-2 with an 88th minute goal to complete Bayern’s
misery after their German Cup exit and their poor Bundesliga title
defence.

“This was a stab in the
heart,” said club CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. “We must now try to rescue
anything we can in the Bundesliga but that will not be easy. Somehow we
have to regroup and get on with it.”

Pressure
is mounting on Bayern, who will host next year’s Champions League final
but face a tough challenge to finish second and qualify for the
tournament automatically or at least finish in the top-three and play a
qualifying round for Europe’s premier competition.

They
are in fourth place, 16 points behind leaders Borussia Dortmund with
eight games left, seven-points behind second-placed Bayern Leverkusen
and two points behind Hanover 96 in third.

“This
was a self-inflicted defeat like so many this season,” said coach Louis
van Gaal, who has already fallen victim of their bad run and will be
leaving at the end of the season, a year early.

“Now we must somehow drag the team out of that dark hole it is in because we still want to qualify for the Champions League.”

With
German media dubbing Van Gaal a lame duck, the 59-year-old Dutchman
knows only too well that this will be a major challenge for his
players, who lack the end-of-season consistency of last year when they
won the domestic double and reached the Champions League final only to
lose to Inter.

“We did this to ourselves and it is not the first time this has happened this season,” a stunned Arjen Robben said.

“We can talk about it and analyse it but we have been doing it all season. We can’t rescue this season anymore.”</