Soft spot kick denies historic win.

Aberdeen were denied an historic win tonight when Spanish referee Eduardo Gonzales awarded the visitor’s a controversial penalty in the 55^th minute. Langfield made a great block from Altintop but the Turk was first to react and fired the rebound past the keeper. The match has been played at a terrific pace and Aberdeen grabbed a sensational lead in the 24^th minute when Severin played a free kick into the danger area and when the ball fell to Aluko he rolled it to Walker who in turn curlled it beyond Rensing from 20 yards. The Dons only held the lead for five minutes when Klose pounced on a Toni through ball to level. Pittodrie erupted again in the 41^st minute when Aluko put Aberdeen back in the lead. The Englishman almost added a third a minute later but the ball scraped inches wide with the keeper beaten. The Germans controlled the second half but the Dons can justifiably feel hard done by with the award, which was similar to the one they were denied in the opening minute.

Aberdeen kicked off with the sound of ‘Stand Free’ ringing in their ears and they were denied what looked like a strong penalty claim turned down in the opening minute when the ball looked to come off the hand of Andreas Ottl. A minute later Maybury was released on the right after good play from Aluko but he failed to keep the ball in play. Bayern won the first corner in the 4th minute but the Dons defence comfortably dealt with the set play. Aberdeen then threatened in the 7th minute when good work by Mackie set up Miller, but the striker opted for a lay off when a shot at goal may well have paid dividends.

Langfield pulled off a terrific save in the 10th minute when he turned a Lell pile driver round the post. The corner was cleared and Mackie won a free kick on the right edge of the Bayern penalty area. Aluko swung a cross in and Diamond was inches from connecting with the ball. Mackie was released in the 16th minute and Lucio looked to have felled him, but play was allowed to continue. Bayern won their third corner in the 20th minute but Mair cleared and two minutes later Mair and Diamond denied Ze Roberto inside the Aberdeen penalty area.

Just as Munich were starting to take control Aberdeen took the lead in the 24th minute when Severin played a free kick into the danger area. The ball fell to Aluko and he rolled it to Walker who drilled the ball past Rensing from 20 yards. The Pittodrie crowd erupted and four minutes later the Munich defence were at sixes and sevens as Mackie put them under pressure. The Dons only held the advantage for five minutes as Klose showed lightning pace inside the box to collect a Toni through ball and fire it past Langfield. The keeper kept the match level a couple of minutes later when he blocked a Toni effort as the match continued at pace.

Ze Roberto drilled the ball into the side netting in the 34th minute and a minute later Aluko was teasing the Munich defence and won a throw in. The long throw was half cleared and Mackie was unlucky not to connect. Two minutes later Aluko almost broke as he nutmegged one player but was denied by the sweeper. A quick free kick from the Germans caused problems at the other end and a Klose lob cleared the Dons bar. Aberdeen regained the lead in the 41st minute when a ball through the middle ripped the Munich defence apart allowing Miller to flick on to Aluko who controlled the ball and drilled it past Rensing. Aluko almost added a second two minutes later when he fired inches wide of the post.

Langfield almost created a chance for the Germans in injury time when he made a terrible clearance of a dead ball that put Diamond under all sorts of pressure. Fortunately both he and Mair were able to scramble the ball clear before a final late shot squeezed past the post of Jamie Langfield. The half time whistle sounded and the Aberdeen players marched off to a rousing reception.

Munich started the second half on the front foot as they forced Aberdeen back, but they failed to threaten Langfield’s goal in the opening exchanges. Bayern Munich were thrown a lifeline in the 55th minute when they were awarded a controversial penalty in an incident that looked similar to the one that was denied to the Dons in the first minute of the match. The ball was fired into the arm of Alan Maybury and their looked little that the defender could have done to prevent it. Lee Mair was booked for his protests and the Pittodrie crowd were not slow to let their feelings be known. Altintop stepped up to take the kick and Langfield made a great block but the Turk was first to react and netted the rebound.

A good spell of play in the 66th minute failed to produce a finish and a minute later Munich replaced Ze Roberto with another international as Podolski entered the fray. Steve Lovell then replaced Mackie in the 68th minute as Aberdeen looked to offer more of a cutting edge up front. Aberdeen were struggling to create chances by this stage although Maybury had a wild effort in the 73rd minute that failed to threaten the Munich goal. They worked their way to the edge of the box again in the 78th minute but again there was no end product. A minute later Lovell was released on the left but was closed down before he could shoot and the subsequent corner failed to get beyond the first defender.

At the other end Podolski burst through and forced Langfield into a fine save as both sides looked for a winner on the night. A long throw in the 85th minute was headed straight at the keeper then another free kick was easily cleared as the Dons looked to grab a late win. The opening goalscorer was given a standing ovation in the 87th minute when he was replaced by Touzani. In the final minute Schweinsteiger had a pot at goal that went high and wide and seconds later Diamond got the ball stuck between his legs as Langfield was forced to dive at the feet of Toni to deny the striker. When the final whistle went the class of 2008 was given a rousing reception as they gave the new generation another great European night.