Bayern Munich somehow prevailed against the incredible fighting spirit and tenacity of Michael Laudrup's Getafe, coming back from the dead on more than one occasion to reach the last four of the UEFA Cup, keeping alive dreams of a trophy treble. They had seemed set to seal a passage through after Ruben de la Red's early sending off left the home side up against it. However, Cosmin Contra, scorer of a stunning goal in the Allianz Arena last week, scored an even better one here to put his side ahead just before the interval. With time running out, Franck Ribery fired home a losse ball to take the match into extra time. Yet Getafe struck twice in the first three minutes of the extra period. First a thunderbolt from Javier Casquero, then a Braulio effort, seemed to leave the Germans dead and buried. But this incredible tie was to have more twists. A terrible error from Abbondanzieri, as he spilled the ball in his own six yard box, allowed Toni an easy tap-in, and gave Bayern belief they could win it. They duly did, thanks to Toni's last gap header, sealing a last four showdown with Zeni St Petersburg.

With injuries and suspensions leaving Laudrup without several players, playmaker Ruben de la Red dropped back to central defence. Cosmin Contra, a hero coming on as a substitute in the first leg, started on the right wing, while Juan Angel Albin was surprisingly left on the bench, with Manu del Moral chosen as Uche's strike partner. Bayern presented two changes from the first leg, with Podolski and Jansen being replaced by Miroslav Klose and Christian Lell.

An unbelievable night of tension began when Getafe were reduced to ten men inside the first five minutes. De la Red was outdone for pace by Klose, and as the striker looked set to go one-on-one with the goalkeeper, he was pulled back. Referee Massimo Busacca really had no choice but to send off the former Real Madrid man, even although everyone in attendance feared the game would be ruined as a spectacle. But whoever thought that was not reckoning on the incredible fighting spirit of this Getafe side. Ribery hit the post with the resultant free kick, but after that the home side defended superbly, and never played like a side down to ten men. Just before half-time, Contra picked up the ball just inside the Bayern half wide on the right, and began a slaloming run past several defenders, before sending an unstoppable shot past Kahn.

It looked like that would be enough to send the home side through, but with just a minute of regulation time to go, a loose ball on the edge of the area broke to Ribery, who volleyed home remorselessly. Cue silence around the Coliseum Alfonso Perez, and extra time.

Yet once again Getafe revealed their superb spirit, as two goals inside the first three minutes of extra time had home fans dreaming once again of glory. Javier Casquero's trademark strike from the edge of the area went in off Kahn's right-hand post. The nature of the shot's trajectory meant a surreal delayed reaction from the crowd. And barely a minute later, Braulio took advantage of a slip by Lucio to make it 3-1. It seemed to be game over, with the Bayern players trudging around in disbelief. However, they were given an unexpected lift with five minutes to go, when Abbondanzieri, faultless until then, uncharacteristically spilled a weak free-kick, and that serial goal-poacher Toni was on hand to score. Then, in the last seconds, another free-kick, and this time even Kahn came up to join the attack. After much to-ing and fro-ing, Toni appeared to head the ball down into the ground and over the despairing dive of Abbondanzieri. It was like slow motion as Getafe's European dream died. Bayern were long ago installed as favourites for this competition, and after last night's events, their name must be on the cup.