Bayern beat Manchester United in the Champions League

In the central match of the opening round of the Champions League group stage between Bayern and Manchester United, the hosts won in Munich – 4:3. Thus, of the 32 matches played in the main European Cup over the past two days, this one was the most productive.

Before the start of any match between Manchester United and Bayern, it is customary to recall the dramatic outcome of the Champions League final played in 1999. Then the English club, led by Alex Ferguson, who had not yet been knighted at that time, losing 0:1, snatched the trophy thanks to two goals that were scored in stoppage time. However, the current generations of football players and coaches of both teams no longer have anything to do with those legendary events. And in the series of eight meetings played between them since then in the main European Cup, Bayern had a noticeable advantage. She won exactly half of those matches, lost one and was tied three more times.

The starting results of the German and English championships also indicated that the Munich team’s chances of winning are now much higher. While Bayern won three victories in four rounds and drew with another leader, Bayer, Manchester United made its worst start in the history of its performances in the English Premier League (EPL), losing three matches out of five The difference between goals scored and goals conceded is 6:10. However, it has long been noticed that in the Champions League, many unsuccessful national champions change for the better. And since the recruitment of players at Manchester United, despite the abundance of injuries, is quite strong, it was logical to assume that Bayern would face a rather difficult game at home.

It started off really difficult. Manchester United looked very active in the opening minutes, and Christian Eriksen even missed a real chance to open the scoring, failing to fire a shot into the near corner of goalkeeper Sven Ulreich. However, the hosts soon established counterplay and took the initiative into their own hands, so the goal scored by Leroy Zane after an interesting combination involving England captain Harry Kane, who had moved to Bayern, and a blunder by Cameroonian visiting goalkeeper Andre Onana, who had previously played for Inter, looked very logical. And four minutes later, Bayern’s lead doubled, and here the complaints should have been made not to Onana, but to the Manchester United defenders, who left Serge Gnabry without guardianship, whose left leg worked flawlessly.

The start of the second half, like the start of the first, was also left to the guests. Moreover, their forward, Danish newcomer Rasmus Høyland, managed to ricochet the ball between the Bayern defender, reducing the gap in the score. But the intrigue did not last long. Soon, Christian Eriksen unwittingly played with his hand in his own penalty area, and Harry Kane restored the two-goal difference with a signature kick into the corner from the penalty spot. In the remaining time, the option of a heroic rescue, which Manchester United managed 24 years ago, seemed to look absolutely unrealistic, however, the fans were not bored. Bayern were in complete control of the situation and could even have led to a big score, but they missed an unexpected goal from Casemiro, who scored into the far bottom corner with his left foot while lying in the penalty area.

But even this was not the end of the matter. First, the 18-year-old French striker of Bayern, Mathis Tell, distinguished himself, completing Bayern’s vertical counterattack, and finally Casemiro scored a double with a header. Thus, Bayern treated its old and principled rival quite generously, winning with a score of 4:3. In another Group A match, Galatasaray in Istanbul only achieved a draw with Copenhagen – 2:2.

Meanwhile, in Group B, London’s Arsenal defeated the Dutch PSV on their field – 4:0, and Sevilla drew their home match with the French Lens – 1:1. In Group C, Real Madrid scored the only goal against Union Berlin at home only in stoppage time, and Italian Napoli beat Portuguese Braga on the road – 2:1. Finally, in Group D, the Spanish Real Sociedad did not retain victory in the match against the finalist of the previous draw, Inter Milan, drawing 1:1, and the Austrian Salzburg unexpectedly won away against the Lisbon Benfica 2:0.

Evgeniy Fedyakov