Bayern Munich crushed Chelsea 3-0 in the Champions league round of 16 match at Stamford Bridge, as Serge Gnabry and Robert Lewandowski scored for visitors.
Bayern Munich vs Chelsea – Context
Bayern Munich and Chelsea had almost opposite performance graph as far as their respective domestic leagues are concerned. Bayern conceded ground initially and went through lot of drama concerning change of manager and uncertainties around, but they have recovered lost ground in Bundesliga. On the other hand Chelsea are still in fourth spot in Premier League table, but they have lost ground in last couple of months after a blistering start by Frank Lampard’s young brigade. They somehow managed to stay in Champions League contention after edging out last year’s semifinalist Ajax by a point.
Bayern Munich vs Chelsea – Goals
- Chelsea somehow survived until the 51st minute when Gnabry scored the opener after playing a one-two with Lewandowski.
- Former Arsenal forward Gnabry initiated the move that led to Bayern Munich’s second goal within three minutes, passing Lewandowski on the left flank and then racing forward to slot it into back of the net.
- Alphonso Davies inspired counter-attack led to the third, when Lewandowski for a tapped in from the cross from Davies at 76th minute.
What score-board won’t tell
- Though 3-0 score looks like a heavy defeat, but Chelsea created quite a few chances in the first half. Oliver Giroud and Mason Mount kept things moving. But surely, they do not have the understanding what Serge Gnabry and Robert Lewandowski had between them.
- Willy Caballero who was preferred before Kepa by Lampard, had kept Robert Lewandowski out of score-sheet for 75 minutes. He saved at least three goal in one-to-one situation with Lewandowski before that.
- Chelsea supporters realised that Bayern had a irreversible lead, after Lewandowski scored at 76th minute.
Result and Conclusion
- Lewandowski moved onto 11 goals in seven Champions League games, his best record in a single season, while he also matched Ronaldo’s record of nine away goals scored in Europe’s top club competition in the same campaign set back in 2013-14.
Post Match
In the Champions League, if you lost the midfield you’re in trouble, it’s rule number one. Because you play against good teams, if they can feed the strikers you, at some stage, will pay for it. And we’ve all gone through that but when the team is really superior that’s what happens.
Arsene Wenger, BEIN Sports on Rule number one
It was a harsh lesson, a reality for the players of the levels we want to get to… This is Champions League football and we haven’t been fighting in the knockout stages, getting through to the back-end of it, for some years and this is the reality of what it takes.
Frank Lampard, Knock-out stage loss in Champions League
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