Bayern Munich 4-1 Chelsea: Initial reactions and observations

Initial reactions and observations

• Alphonso Davies went off with an apparent injury late in the game. He was great, let’s hope he’s okay.
• Thiago Alcantara and Joshua Kimmich escape without yellows. They will be available to face Barcelona next week.
• Jerome Boateng might be injured. This game was costly for Bayern from a defensive perspective.
• Alvaro Odriozola got an assist? In my wildest dreams, I never would have imagined it.
• Robert Lewandowski mauled Chelsea. Two goals and two assists. Easy Ballon d’Or performance.
• Thomas Muller was not his usual involved self. He had a couple of good chances which he should have converted.
• Tolisso’s goal will give him plenty of confidence. Good for the guy after so many setbacks.
• Bayern were sloppy in defense, and the goal was conceded off an error by Manuel Neuer. Chelsea bypassed the press and caused the team plenty of problems. There’s a lot that Flick will need to work on before the team heads to Lisbon.

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FT. Bayern Munich 4-1 Chelsea.

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84’ — GOAL! Lewandowski scores with a powerful header off a good cross from Odriozola.

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80’ — Javi comes in for Serge Gnabry

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75’ — GOAL! Tolisso scores in with an acrobatic finish off a beautifully weighted cross from Robert Lewandowski.

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70’ — Subs! Tolisso and Odriozola come in for Thiago and Kimmich.

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63’ — Philippe Coutinho and Niklas Sule come on for Perisic and Boateng.

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60’ — Boa comes back on. Guess he’s okay.

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59’ — Boateng limps off the pitch injured. It looks very bad.

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46’ — And the second half is underway!

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Half time observations:

• Bayern were dominant throughout. Chelsea were bossed on every aspect.
• Bayern’s attack looked great, and could’ve had more on the scoresheet had the chances been converted.
• A moment of complacency has hurt them again, with a mistake from Neuer and a lapse in defending gifting Chelsea a goal.
• Thiago is a one man midfield. He controlled the tempo of the game throughout. Also, Thiagoretzka is a great pivot.

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45’ — HT.

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43’ — Chelsea score! Tammy slots in after a mistake from Neuer, with Bayern’s defense equally to blame.

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41’ — Emerson receives a yellow card for a nasty tackle on Leon Goretzka.

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27’ — CLOSE! Hudson Odoi makes a darting run after being given acres of space by the Bayern midfield, and bends the ball around Neuer, into the back of the net. Fortunately, Tammy Abraham was offside before making the pass, so the goal wasn’t considered.

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25’ — GOAL! After a ball won back well my Mueller, Lewandowski is released against Chelsea’s defense, who finds Perisic with a good ball, which the latter slots with ease. Great play, 2-0 for Bayern (5-0 on aggregate).

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18’ — Chelsea’s Mateo Kovačić body-checks Leon Goretzka. The ref allows play to continue, since Bayern has the ball. After a shot flies wide, they check on Leon, who drags himself back to his feet.

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9’ — GOAL! Robert Lewandowski puts the ball to Caballero’s right like clockwork. 1-0 Bayern (4-0 on aggregate). That’s a tall mountain to climb.

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8’ — Penalty! VAR overturns the referee’s offside decision. Lewandowski scores to make it 1-0, 4-0 on aggregate.

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Kickoff: We’re underway! Let’s hope for a good game (so long as Bayern make it through).

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One hour until kickoff: We have lineups! As predicted, Hansi Flick started Perisic over Coutinho. BFW 1, Kicker 0.

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MATCHDAY! After months of waiting, Bayern Munich can finally secure their place in the Champions League quarter finals with a win over Chelsea. Lampard’s Blues come into the game with a 3-0 deficit and a plethora of injuries, so most will consider it a formality at this point.

However, that’s hardly the case. Bayern have some key players missing — both Benjamin Pavard and Kingsley Coman are set to miss the game — and have not played a competitive game in almost a month. That means giving a chance to either Ivan Perisic or Philippe Coutinho, both of whom have been underwhelming this season. In addition, the team will surely be rusty and need time to get back into the groove of things, which could give Chelsea a way back into the tie.

Meanwhile, certain players are under a very real threat of missing the QF’s due to suspension. Joshua Kimmich and Thiago Alcantara are both likely to start, and they’re just one yellow card away from a suspension. While yellow cards are wiped out after the conclusion of the Ro16, yellow card suspensions are not. So they will have to play very carefully, while Chelsea will have a lot more freedom due to a lack of pressure.

Of course, Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Alphonso Davies — all the stars from the first leg are available to play. Led by the indomitable Manuel Neuer, Hansi Flick’s men will look to give it their all and notch up a statement win to start up this year’s UCL min-tournament.

It’s Bayern time.

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Match Info

Location: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany

Time: 9:00 pm local time, 3:00 pm EST

TV/streaming: Fubo.tv, Find Your Country

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