Chelsea were well aware of the fact that they needed to put in the performance of their season so far in order to overcome the might of Bayern Munich at Stamford Bridge – but tonight, they were unable to do that. The German champions ran out 3-0 winners in London, leaving the Blues with a mountain to climb in the second leg if they’re going to progress into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
Starting well
Frank Lampard’s men actually started the game quite well as time went on in the first half they appeared to be growing in confidence. They only really had a few half opportunities here and there with Marcos Alonso’s low shot being the best of the bunch in the first 45 minutes, whereas Thomas Muller twice went close for Bayern.
In the early stages of the second half Chelsea appeared to lose their structure, and within a few minutes, the visitors made them pay with Serge Gnabry opening the scoring following a nice piece of build-up play. Before Chelsea even knew what had hit them they were 2-0 down thanks to Gnabry once again who made it six goals in two games in the capital this season after his four-goal masterclass against Tottenham.
Simply outclassed
A few key substitutions seemed to give the Blues a bit more drive and purpose when moving forward, but it just wasn’t enough. They were stifled time and time again, with Bayern only really having to wait for their opportunities as opposed to actively seeking them out. The final nail in the coffin, in many ways, came when Alphonso Davies was able to dance down the wing before putting the ball on a plate for Robert Lewandowski who was happy to tap in the third and final goal and the game.
These two clubs will meet once more in the second leg at Allianz Arena in three weeks, but it’s going to take an absolutely huge effort for Chelsea to even come close to turning this around. If they do, it’ll surely go down in history as one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the Champions League.
Match Report
Chelsea: Caballero (6), Azpilicueta (5), Christensen (5), Rudiger (4.5), James (5.5), Alonso (4), Jorginho (5.5), Kovacic (7), Mount (5), Barkley (4.5), Giroud (5.5), Willian (6), Abraham (5), Pedro (6.5)
Bayern Munich: Neuer (7.5), Pavard (6.5), Boateng (7), Alaba (7), Davies (8.5), Kimmich (7), Thiago (8), Coman (6.5), Muller (8), Gnabry (9), Lewandowski (9.5), Goretzka (6), Tolisso (6), Coutinho (6)
Referee: Clément Turpin
Goals: Gnabry x2, Lewandowski
Yellow Cards: Jorginho, Kimmich, Thiago
Red Cards: Alonso
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