Guardiola Taught a Lesson as Bayern Munich Exit Champions League with Heads High

Bayern Munich won the battle but lost the war on Tuesday as they earned a 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League semifinal, a victory that was not enough to overturn their 1-0 defeat in Spain a week prior.

Watching the second leg alone, the result looked to be a cruel one for the German giants, who were dominant for almost the entire match but saw the visitors slip through thanks to a crucial away goal scored by Antoine Griezmann.

It was the only gilt-edged chance Diego Simeone's men were able to muster from free play during the game, but it was enough to see them through to the final.

Perhaps the writing was on the wall after the first leg. Heading into that match, Bayern captain Philipp Lahm underlined the importance of an away goal: "We remember what happened in our last semifinals," he said, per ESPN. "We have not forgotten that we did not score any goal away from home against either Real Madrid or Barcelona."

Indeed, Pep Guardiola sent out his team in last year's semifinal with Barcelona in an oddly aggressive manner, man-marking the Catalan giants' forwards with a back three positioned as high as the offside trap could possibly apply. Barca had all the early momentum and won 3-0.

The year before, Bayern played an extremely high line against Real Madrid and lost 1-0 away from home. So they needed an away goal against Atleti.

Bayern did not get an away goal, though. And strangely, Guardiola put a personal stamp on the first leg by benching Thomas Muller, the scorer of 32 goals this season. In that match, Robert Lewandowski was isolated in the center, and Bayern lacked presence in front of goal as they were unable to take advantage of Diego Godin's absence in the Atleti defense.

As Lahm highlighted, Bayern, prior to Guardiola, grew and learned from mistakes. He said: "We know that tomorrow we must score. We must keep fighting—have the memories of the 2010 and 2012 finals when we lost, but in 2013 we won. These memories unite players."

But despite constant evolution in many ways, Bayern, in three years under Guardiola, never managed to get the hang of managing a two-legged tie, their progress being two Champions League semifinals humiliations followed by a respectable defeat at the same stage.

Overall, their record away from home was abysmal on Europe's greatest stage, not only against teams like Real, Barca and Atleti, but against Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Porto as well.

In three years under Guardiola, Bayern's record in knockout round games away from home stands at one win, four draws and four losses, with eight goals scored and 13 conceded.

It may be harder to win away from home, but with Bayern's squad and supposedly the best coach in the world, more is expected.

Other coaches have done better. Simeone's Atleti haven't won away from home in this year's knockout rounds, but they reached the 2014 final with away wins against AC Milan and Chelsea and an away goal in a draw with Barcelona.

Bayern won the 2013 final after beating Arsenal, Juventus and Barcelona by two or more goals away from home. Even Roberto Di Matteo's Schalke managed to shock Real Madrid in a 4-3 win at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium last year.

Guardiola's Bayern just never were up to par away from home in the big Champions League matches. And although they often were able to turn things around, in each season, they eventually reached a barrier that proved insurmountable.

Looking forward, Bayern will hope for more consistency under Carlo Ancelotti as the more pragmatic manager aims for greater success in Europe.

And if he's wise, Guardiola will do the same at Manchester City. He may be a great coach, but at this point, it's becoming harder and harder to justify calling him the world's best coach. It's a superlative he'll have to win back with results.

@Mr_Bundesliga