Daily Schmankerl: Champions League recap, contradictory reports about Bayern’s interest in Wenger, Carlo Ancelotti’s days at Napoli look to be numbered, and MORE!

Bayern, PSG, and Juventus through to the Round of 16

Bayern Munich got back on track with a 2-0 win over Olympiacos. Interim manager Hansi Flick fielded a rather different lineup, benching Thiago Alcantara and Phillipe Coutinho in favor of Leon Goretzka and Thomas Müller. Alphonso Davies also enjoyed his Champions League debut, putting in a strong shift at left-back. It is a step in the right direction as Bayern prepares to face Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.

PSG scraped by Club Brugge with a 1-0 win thanks to Mauro Icardi. Keylor Navas saved the day for the Parisians by stopping a penalty.

Juventus Turin struggled against Lokomotiv Moscow, but came away with a 2-1 victory after former Bayern winger Douglas Costa scored spectacularly in injury time. Look at this run:

Manchester City fell short of qualifying with a 1-1 draw against Atalanta. It was... quite a match. City’s keeper, Ederson Moraes, was forced to leave due to injury, but his substitute, Claudio Bravo was sent off with a red card! Out of goalies, Pep Guardiola put Kyler Walker into goal because of his “courage and speed,” he later explained. Walker made a save!

Shakhtar Donetsk and Dinamo Zagreb parted after a late 3-3 draw. And Real Madrid utterly crushed Galatasray 6-0, as Rodrygo became the second-youngest player ever to score a perfect hat-trick

Tottenham Hotspur beat Red Star Belgrade 4-0, and lo and behold, Bayer Leverkusen wrested a 2-1 victory from Atletico Madrid. Leverkusen still is at the bottom of group D.

Wenger in or out? Sport Bild vs The Athletic, Falk vs Honigstein!

This whole search for a new manager serves as a perfect setup for a Shakespearean reference. To be, or not to be, that is the question that Arsene Wenger is probably asking himself right now. Within the past 48hrs, contrasting reports have surfaced suggesting that both Wenger and Ralf Rangnick were the clear front runners to be be Bayern’s new manager, but conflicting reports have come out saying otherwise.

Raphael Honigstein of The Athletic reported that Bayern were not in contact with Wenger and that they were not considering him for the position. The idea, they suggest, is that Bayern would be able to pursue Thomas Tuchel or Erik ten Hag in the future and just let Hansi Flick finish out the season. Christian Falk of Bild and The Guardian had posted the original article identifying Rangnick and Wenger as the front runners, but those reports were proven to be faulty. Bild then doubled down on the Wenger claim and even went as far as saying a deal with Wenger is imminent and that a meeting has already been scheduled.

At this point, anyone’s guess is as good as ours.

Wenger himself had this to say about the rumors linking him to Bayern:

The Lewandowskis are expecting!

Did you notice Lewandowski’s goal celebration? That’s right: he and Anna Lewandowska are expecting.

How to build an NFL body on Taco Bell (SB Nation)

The mother ship, sbnation.com (known to insiders as “dot com”) produces some amazing content. You should read this piece, inspired by Baltimore Ravens linebacker Matthew Judon’s claim that his body is built by Taco Bell. This is worth the read. For instance, this excerpt about the low-sodium weekend meals:

I know this seems like a horror show. It is. Nobody should eat 40 miniature cinnamon rolls in a single day, but here we are. It takes dedication and drive to make it to the NFL — even if that means eating a stupid amount of desserts.

You’re also probably wondering why I put in daily snacks of Mountain Dew Kickstart Orange Citrus. Scurvy. This ensures our player doesn’t wither away like a malnourished pirate.

Pep Guardiola: “You can’t say no to Bayern Munich” (Sport Bild)

While he was on BT Sport’s “What I Wore” segment earlier this week, Pep Guardiola recalled his time as Bayern manager and said that it’s a call you simply cannot refuse. He became manager of Bayern in 2013 after a tenure as Barcelona manager from 2008-2012 and refusing the offer from Bayern simply wasn’t in the cards for him:

The moment Bayern München called me, I said, ‘If Bayern Munich calls you, you can not say no.’ Bayern Munich may call you once in your life, so you have to go there. I always thought I was going to England after my time in Barcelona, ​​but then I thought maybe it was too early, but Bayern Munich is a unique opportunity in life.

Photo credit should read CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP via Getty Images

Perhaps Guardiola is sending a subtle message to Arsene Wenger, who’s emerged as the front runner to replace Niko Kovac after Ralf Rangnick had denied the reports saying that he had already been contacted by Bayern’s front office. Also, danke fur alles, Pep!

Augsburg’s Finnbogason and Baier take in the match at the Allianz

Go figure! Augsburg is just a short drive away from Munich after all... Icelandic striker Alfred Finnbogason and teammate Daniel Baier were on hand to watch Bayern play Olympiacos. even posing for a photo with Sky commentator Torben Hoffman, who once shared the pitch with Baier.

Carlo Ancelotti on his way out of Napoli? (Sports Illustrated)

What on earth is going on at SSC Napoli? Apparently, Ancelotti tried to organize an “emergency training camp” following their 1-1 draw with RB Salzburg in the Champions League on Tuesday. The Italian manager refused to speak with the media after the match and Napoli are now winless in their last 4 fixtures across all competitions and are in 7th place in the Serie A table.

The players have refused to report to the emergency training camp that Ancelotti called and Napoli released an official statement saying that they will defend its ‘’economic, patrimonial, image and disciplinary rights’,’ respecting the player’s decision not to show up.

None of this looks good at all and Ancelotti’s days in Naples could be numbered.

Photo by Carlo Hermann/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty Images

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Bayern - Olympiacos Recap

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our Match Awards and Match Observations for Bayern Munich’s 2-0 win over Olympiacos in the Champions League in Hansi Flick’s first mac in charge of the club. Bayern are now 4 wins out of 4 in the Champions League and have already progressed to the knockout stages of the competition.

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images