Bayern dumps Fiorentina out of Europe

Bayern Munich lost 3-2 to Fiorentina but still managed to advance to the Champions League quarterfinals on away goals Tuesday.

Bayern, a four-time European champion, won the opening leg 2-1.

Arjen Robben scored the decisive goal for Bayern with a precise shot from 25 meters (yards) in the 65th minute at the Artemio Franchi stadium, deflating a crowd that was still cheering Stevan Jovetic's second score a minute earlier.

Robben dribbled freely before launching his shot just inside the left post and the crossbar.

Juan Vargas had put Fiorentina in front in the 28th and Mark van Bommel scored Bayern's first goal in the 60th with another long shot, after Franck Ribery freed himself from three defenders to provide a cross.

"We made a lot of individual mistakes on defense, which made the game very complicated," Bayern coach Louis Van Gaal. "It wasn't an easy game, but in the second half we kept the ball on the ground more and we scored two beautiful goals."

Jovetic found the target in the 54th and 64th to snap Bayern's unbeaten run at 18 matches.

In the first leg, substitute striker Miroslav Klose scored a contested goal in the 89th minute over 10-man Fiorentina. Klose acknowledged that he felt offside and many Fiorentina fans remained in the stadium after the return game to chant their displeasure with UEFA president Michel Platini.

"The result of the first leg is upsetting. If it was 1-1 things would have been different tonight," Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey said. "We didn't achieve our goal, but I don't think that's our fault. We really put on a great performance and we can take a lot of pride in that."

Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli was also still bitter over Klose's goal.

"We gave up a goal that shouldn't have counted for anything, and instead we're here talking about getting eliminated by a goal that was two meters offside," Prandelli said.

Bayern also reached the quarterfinals last season, losing to Barcelona.

"I can also understand that Fiorentina is upset, since the deciding goal was scored offside," Van Gaal said.

The elimination will only push Fiorentina into deeper crisis, as the Tuscan club has won just one of its last nine Serie A matches and gone 18 games since its last clean sheet.

"It's a tough season, we can't hide that," Frey said. "Today was an unusual day with a lot of wind and they scored with two very powerful shots. But they're great players and they have that talent."

The game was played in unusually cold conditions for March in Tuscany, with the temperature hovering just above freezing and a light but constant rain combining with strong winds to make it even more uncomfortable.

The wind appeared to affect the game at the start, with both sides struggling to judge their passes.

Six minutes in, Vargas took aim at the goal with a free kick from 35 meters (yards), but the Peru midfielder's shot landed on top of the net.

While a 0-0 draw would have been good enough for Bayern to advance, the visitors did not sit back at the start. Instead, the German side controlled the ball for long stretches without producing anything noteworthy.

Bayern midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger received a yellow card for a hard foul on Jovetic in the 22nd and will miss the opening leg of the quarterfinals.

Fiorentina went ahead when Bayern goalkeeper Hans-Joerg Butt couldn't collect a long shot from Marco Marchionni and Vargas scored off the rebound.

Shortly after Vargas' goal, Bayern coach Louis Van Gaal replaced Mario Gomez with Klose at striker and the German side responded four minutes later with its best chance to that point as Robben was denied with a spectacular save from Frey in the 34th.

Bayern had the wind at its back for the second half but again it was Vargas setting the tone with a long shot that sailed wide in the 49th. A minute later, Fiorentina forward Alberto Gilardino couldn't find the target from two meters (yards).

Jovetic's first score started with a cross from Marchionni, then Gilardino deflected the ball back to the waiting Montenegro international.

Gilardino again provided the final touch for Jovetic's second score, but Robben found the target down at the other end a minute later.