Lewandowski free kick makes Bayern Munich €1.5m richer as they beat Atletico Madrid 1-0

Bayern Munich was never going to get anything out of their final group stage match against Atletico Madrid. But they nonetheless got the win to extend their home winning streak in the Champions League to 14 games and the win that secured another €1.5 million in prize money.

Robert Lewandowski scored the only goal of the game in the first half. He following up his pinpoint free kick against Mainz at the weekend with another stellar strike over Atletico Madrid’s wall.

The win gave Bayern consecutive victories for the first time in over a month. Ancelotti now has two league games against mediocre opponents before having to face surprising Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig in two weeks time.

Diego Simeone’s cranked up the heat early in the game as he did in Madrid. Yannick Ferreira Carrasco had two shots early in the game as a result, but both rolled to the gloves of Manuel Neuer.

But Bayern, back in their 4-3-3 set up that Carlo Ancelotti has used most of the season, came at Atletico’s dense head-on. The ball did not always fall their way – including a short-angled shot Douglas Costa hammered into the gloves of Jan Oblak – but their continuous waves of attacking pressure eventually gave them the fortune they needed.

Arturo Vidal tapped a pass over to Juan Bernat at the top of the box, and Carrasco brought down the Bayern defender just outside of the penalty area. Lewandowski did the rest, curving a free kick over the wall and beyond the dive of Jan Oblak.

Simeone and Ancelotti pretty much shut up shop in the second half. Simeone made three substitutions in eight minutes around the hour mark, and Ancelotti used a similar strategy in the 80th minute – bringing on Thomas Müller for Lewandowski as a straight swap before making two defensive substitutions.

Though their perfect record was taken away from them, Atleti still clinched their ticket to the knockout stage as winners of group D. Bayern finished as runners up for the first time since 2009. Arsenal, Napoli and Barcelona are the three group winners Bayern possibly could face, and they will discover the rest of their possible opponents after tomorrow’s action.

Match Details

Bayern Munich (1-0) Atletico Madrid

FCB: Robert Lewandowski (28’)

Bayern XI: Neuer – Rafinha, Hummels, Alaba, Bernat – Thiago, Vidal, Renato Sanches – Robben (Kimmich 83’), Lewandowski (Müller 80’), Douglas (Martinez 87’)

Atleti XI: Oblak – Vrsaljko, Godin, Savic, Hernandez – Saul, Koke (Partey 68’), Gabi, Gaitan (Correa 60’) – Carrasco (Gameiro 60’), Griezmann