Sometimes, even big football clubs have bad days. And if they have just changed their coach, it’s even worse. That was probably the opinion of the management of Bayern Munich after the humiliation they suffered against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium last week (0-3).
You can always take your mind off soccer and enjoy yourself at 1win
The German coach, Thomas Tuchel, didn’t have time to make significant changes to his new team. He was criticized for the unstable defense, so he put João Cancelo, a balanced player, on the left-back, and responded to the attacking problems with the long-awaited return of the injured Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. At the same time, Josep Guardiola, like all City fans, liked the team’s performance in the first game so much that there was no need to make changes to the lineup.
However, City understood their position before the second leg and tried to minimize the risks with a cautious game of deep defense and medium block. This was beneficial for Bayern, but it also presented certain challenges. The hosts needed to be careful not to let a quick counter-attack from the opponents slip, something they had significant problems dealing with.
Tuchel’s team created a good goal-scoring opportunity in the 17th minute, which was not late for a game like this, but Sané, with a shot from the left side of the penalty area, kicked wide of the far post when facing the goalkeeper. But in the next opportunity for City, the same potential defensive problems of Bayern became visible. Haaland ran from the center of the field and Upamecano brought him down and even saw a red card, but then breathed a sigh of relief due to the opponent’s offside.
Probably, at that moment, the Recordmeister’s head coach did not breathe a sigh of relief because if Haaland were to stay in attack position again, he would certainly do it again, which could not be allowed. But at the 34th minute, Upamecano was in the spotlight again, even receiving a yellow card for blocking a long-distance shot from Gundogan with his hand in his own penalty area. Of course, the Norwegian bomber then took the penalty, but he kicked it over the crossbar.
The weight of this episode was quite palpable. Bayern, first of all, remained in the game in this way, and secondly, Haaland could have lost faith in his own abilities, which also played into the Bavarians’ hands. They tried to take advantage of the opportunity, but a couple of Coman’s shots inside the opponents’ areas at the end of the time were blocked by defenders.
The German champion tried to come back into the game with a lot of intensity in the second half, but their opponents scored an own goal, ending any chance of a comeback. You won’t believe it, but once again Upamecano was the anti-hero of the situation, as he put the Dutchman De Bruyne on pause during the play that led to the counter-attack on the left flank, almost at the entrance of the box, and then the Belgian hit a shot over Sommer, as Sané should have done during his moment in the first half.
After that, Bayern’s actions didn’t make much sense. They weren’t confident that they would be able to score three goals, and when the difference began to reach four, there was nothing left to do. However, the Allianz Arena wanted to see at least one goal from their own team, and French referee Clément Turpin gave that chance to the home crowd. Mane’s shot in the 79th minute hit Akanji’s hand near his own area on the right side, and with the help of VAR, the referee awarded a penalty. Kimmich hit the ball high, unlike Haaland, so the home team at least had something to cheer about.
In the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League, Manchester City will play against Real Madrid, while Bayern Munich was eliminated in the quarterfinals for the third consecutive season.
