Bayern Munich sure of next round; Ansu Fati saves Barcelona

Tuesday, November 2, 2021 at 10:52 PM• Dominic Mostert

Bayern Munich has qualified for the next round of the Champions League. The team of coach Julian Nagelsmann won 5-2 against Benfica on Tuesday evening, partly due to a hat trick by Robert Lewandowski, and is therefore at the top of Group E with twelve points from four matches. Barcelona simultaneously won 0-1 against Dynamo Kiev and is second with six points; Benfica is in third place with four points, while Kiev (one point) is last. Due to the difference in goal difference between Bayern and Barcelona (+15 at -4), the group win can hardly escape the German superpower.

Bayern Munich – Benfica 5-2
The spectators in the Allianz Arena were treated to a spectacular first half, in which the first big chance was for Bayern. In the sixth minute, Kingsley Coman sent his guard Alejandro Grimaldo into the woods, before allowing Serge Gnabry to finish; keeper Odysseas Vlachodimos made the save. After fifteen minutes Benfica thought to take the lead. After a corner from Everton, Soualiho Meïté headed through to Pizzi, who enabled Lucas Verissimo to finish from close range. However, Pizzi was offside and the goal was disallowed. Bayern then put their foot on the accelerator and the home side scored twice.

Robert Lewandowski struck first. After Joshua Kimmich and Coman played together, the latter made a feint with which he showed Grimaldo, after which he delivered the ball to Lewandowski on a silver platter: 1-0. A nice pass from Kimmich from midfield to Lewandowski in the penalty area led to Gnabry’s 2-0, who finished with a nice chop after Lewandowski’s pass. Benfica’s unexpected connection goal came seven minutes before the break. After a short free kick, Grimaldo sent a cross to Morato, who towered over the Bayern defense and brought the tension back to the game.

Just before the break, Bayern missed the perfect opportunity to double the margin again. The VAR pointed out referee Szymon Marciniak on a handball by Verissimo after a shot by Leon Goretzka. The ensuing penalty, however, was not convincingly shot in by Lewandowski and thus Vlachodimos saved. It was his first ever missed penalty in the Champions League. Shortly after the break it still became 3-1: Alphonso Davies put the ball back for Leroy Sané, who successfully countered. After an hour, the fourth goal followed, by a bounce from Lewandowski after preparatory work by Sané. It was 4-2 via substitute Darwin Núñez after a quick breakout, but Lewandowski completed his hat-trick after a long kick and an assist from Manuel Neuer.

Dynamo Kyiv – Barcelona 0-1
Interim coach Sergi Barjuán made a base for Frenkie de Jong, who missed the last two games due to a hamstring injury. Memphis Depay was on the edge of the attack; Sergiño Dest was not fit enough to start. Just like De Jong, Ansu Fati returned after an absence of two games and played a leading role in the second half. After 64 minutes Fati was awarded a penalty by arbiter Ovidu Hategan, who thought he saw a foul by Tomasz Kedziora, but after VAR interference, he reversed that decision: Fati fell himself. Moments later, Fati opened the scoring for Barcelona. The attacker got the ball in the penalty area after a changed cross from Óscar Mingueza and scored hard: 0-1.

The goal could be called deserved given the game image after the break. Both sides had chances in the first half: a shot by Memphis Depay was blocked from close range by Ilya Zabarnyi and Clément Lenglet headed the post from offside, while Kiev became dangerous in the breakout, creating opportunities through both Mykola Shaparenko and Denys Garmash. However, the majority of possession was for Barcelona and especially in the second half, the visitors were the most dangerous team. Dynamo Kiev naturally looked for the equalizer after the 0-1. Marc-André ter Stegen saved a placed shot from Viktor Tsygankov from the top corner and then Barcelona survived a few perilous moments.