Bayern Munich reach Champions League final

Lyon 0 Bayern Munich 3 (Bayern win 4-0 on aggregate). Bayern Munich booked their place in next month's Champions League final in Madrid with an easy victory against French club Lyon. The German side, which has won the Champions League four times, will be contesting their first final since beating Valencia on penalties in the 2001 final.

After some of the scintillating football played in the quarter-finals by the likes of Barcelona and Arsenal and Bayern and Manchester United, the semi-final was a crushing anti-climax as Lyon failed to cope with the pressure of the occasion. Already 1-0 down after last week's first leg in Munich, the French champions needed to come out firing in front of their home crowd, but they didn't and Bayern took full advantage of their hosts' nerves.

Thomas Mueller nearly gave the visitors a dream start when he sent a stinging shot just wide of Hugh Lloris in the Lyon goal, but on 26 minutes the Germans took the lead when Ivica Olic (above) converted Mueller's cross into the Lyon net. Former Chelsea winger Arjen Robben was involved in the build up to the goal and the Dutchman was authoritative throughout, taking command in the absence of the suspended Franck Ribery.

Lyon created chances of their own either side of the break but Michel Bastos and Bafetimbi Gomis both missed sitters, and the tie was effectively ended when Cris was sent off on the hour mark. The Lyon skipper was booked for a foul on Olic, and when Cris gave the Swiss referee an ironic round of applause for his decision he was given his marching orders.

Bayern closed in for the kill in the final quarter of the tie with Olic grabbing his second in the 67th minute and the 30-year-old frontman then completed his hat-trick ten minutes later by heading Philipp Lahm's cross from the right into the Lyon net.

Bayern now wait for the outcome of tonight's other semi-final between Inter Milan and Barcelona (with the Italian club defending a 3-1 lead as they travel to the Nou Camp for the second leg) but their coach Louis Van Gaal doesn't mind who they face in the final.

"If we play like this all the time it will be hard to beat us," he said. "The players now know what it's like to spend ten months with Van Gaal, they know it's not easy but they're happy now and so am I. I always believe my team can play football this way. Bayern can beat any team; that's why we've come this far. It was a fantastic performance – it's awesome to be in the final."

Lyon coach Claude Puel had no complaints with the result, acknowledging that his side hadn't been able to live with their German opponents. "They were better than us in many areas," he admitted. "Their physical power had an impact on the game. They remained focused and strong until the last minute... we have not met a team with such physical strength since the start of the competition." ·