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Bayern Munich pulls off great escape in comeback win over Juventus

Football Soccer - Bayern Munich v Juventus - Champions League - Allianz-Arena, Munich, Germany - 16/03/16 Bayern Munich's Thiago Alcantara (L) celebrates after scoring a goal with Kingsley Coman REUTERS/Michaela Rehle

In six seasons as a senior team manager, Pep Guardiola had never really failed at anything.

He'd won his domestic league five times – three times with Barcelona and twice with Bayern Munich. He'd come in second once. He'd won the Champions League twice and reached the semifinals in his four other continental campaigns. He'd won the Club World Cup three times in three attempts.

On Wednesday, he was 150 seconds removed from failure as Bayern was almost bounced from the Champions League in the round of 16 by Juventus – last season's runner-up that was nonetheless considered the heavy underdog. But an injury-time equalizer from Thomas Muller and two extra-time goals would see Guardiola's men prevail 4-2 on the night, and 6-4 on aggregate, in a rollicking affair.

Guardiola, who will leave Bayern for Manchester City at the end of the season, had watched his side take a comfortable 2-0 lead in Turin three weeks prior, when Muller and Arjen Robben had wedged goals around the halftime break. But Paulo Dybala and Stefano Sturaro tied that game up after the hour.

Still, Bayern would surely see things through at home with an away-goals aggregate lead in its back pocket. Because Juve would be without Dybala and stalwarts Giorgio Chiellini and Claudio Marchisio. Most agreed that the Bundesliga power would outclass the four-time defending Italian champions and continue their own streak of four in runs to the Champions League semifinals.

But within five minutes, that expected narrative could be discarded. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, looking unusually off the pace, misread a ball dreadfully and sent it right into the feet of Paul Pogba outside Bayern's penalty area. The Juventus midfielder whacked it past two lunging defenders and into the empty net.

Then Neuer misplayed a ball yet again which allowed Alvaro Morata to lob him from close out. But his goal was wrongly disallowed for offside.

Juve dropped deep and let Bayern do its Bayern thing, passing ruts into the turf. But in the 28th minute, Morata picked the ball up outside his own box and strode all the way downfield, slaloming through harried Bayern defenders, before laying it off for Juan Cuadrado. His splendid feign sent captain Philipp Lahm flying and gave the Colombian room to smack the second goal past Neuer.

On the sideline, Guardiola winced and realized he was in deep trouble.

Bayern nearly recovered a goal before halftime, but the timeless Gianluigi Buffon saved Muller's shot from inside the box upon Douglas Costa's run. The rebound almost caromed off Robert Lewandowski and in, but skipped wide instead.

For a time, the scales only looked to tip further in Juve's favor. Cuadrado had more glorious chances. So did Morata. They didn't finish any of them, and Juventus would come to rue that profligacy – to say nothing of the disallowed goal.

Because eventually, Bayern got back on the board following four unanswered goals across the two ties. A searing Douglas Costa cross in the 73rd minute found Lewandowski at the far post to bring survival back within reach.

And then, with time ticking down on the Bavarians' European quest, Patrice Evra coughed up the ball in Juve's own third as the veteran defender tried to dribble out of trouble. Arturo Vidal, who played for Juve just last year, won it and fed Kingsley Coman on the right. His cross soared to the far post to Muller, who slammed his header past Buffon to send the home crowd and its team into raptures.

Then, in the second half of extra time, the substitute Thiago finished a lovely attack with a tidy strike.

And to put the tie away at last, Coman, who is on loan from Juve no less, rampaged forward on a counter and beat Buffon at his far post with a curling strike.

Juventus staged a late assault, but Bayern rode out the game. Guardiola clenched his fists and realized he'd gotten away. He had succeeded in the end, as he always seems to, and as such, his legacy-defining season remains on track. If he doesn't win Europe's biggest trophy this year, his final one with Bayern, it will complicate the assessment of his time in Bavaria.

Sure, he will likely win a third straight Bundesliga title in just three seasons. And he might do the double again, like in his first season. But if he fails to win the big one, it will beg questions about whether he succeeded in his mandate to turn an already great team into a transcendent one.

Bayern Munich played some gorgeous soccer during his tenure. But Guardiola would have failed to live up to the accomplishments of his predecessor, Jupp Heynckes, who was cleared out in his favor. The veteran German manager, after all, won the treble in his final year, with Guardiola already confirmed to be on his way.

But on Wednesday, soccer's boy wonder coach remained infallible. The sheen of invincibility glistening off his shaven pate has not yet been dulled.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.