Bayern Munich score late at Copenhagen to extend unbeaten UCL run
By Isaac Rivers
On the second matchday of the Champions League Group Stage, Bayern Munich faced Danish champions FC Copenhagen. Bayern’s previous Champions League fixture saw them take on the English giants Manchester United, which resulted in a 4-3 win for the German side. Though the final scoreline represents a tight game, the passage of play said otherwise with Bayern breezing through the opposition. Copenhagen disappointingly came away with a sole point in their match against Galatasaray despite going 2-0 up in the game.
Bayern started a very similar line-up as to what they fielded against RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga on Saturday. The only change was Leon Goretzka starting on the bench with Noussair Mazraoui slotting in the right-back position. Konrad Laimer played in the center of the park.
As the match kicked off, neither side was posing much of an attacking threat. In the opening 25 minutes, things seemed oddly level– though Bayern were able to dominate the possession from the word go.
Leroy Sane played a diagonal ball across the face of Copenhagen’s goal to find the feet of Harry Kane in the 15th minute. With his second touch, Kane fired off a shot to draw a lunging save from Kamil Grabara. Even if the ball had gone in, it wouldn’t have been counted since Kane was in offside position. Alarmingly, this was the only promising move for Die Roten in the first half.
As halftime approached, the two sides were not separated. Offensively, neither side had the upper hand- Bayern with five shots (four on target) and Copenhagen with four shots (two on target).
With the second half kicking off, Copenhagen struck first, ultimately opening up the scoring. In the 55th minute, after a blocked shot from Viktor Claesson, Lukas Lerager was in the right place to slot the rebound past Sven Ulreich.
Seemingly, the visitors did not have much of an answer to Copenhagen’s goal. Tactically, Bayern made no real changes, sticking with what they had been doing all match, even though their long unbeaten UCL Group Stage run was now under threat.
It only took the German side 12 minutes to get their equalizer, and it gave their side the spark they needed for the rest of the match. In the 67th minute, 20-year-old Jamal Musiala put on an excellent display of skill as he danced between defenders, opening up the space to fire an unstoppable shot past the goalkeeper. An impressive solo effort from the youngster to bring the game level.
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In the closing minutes of the match, it would be the substitutes who were the difference makers. After coming on in the 77th minute, Thomas Muller and Mathys Tel would go on to combine for the goal that would clinch the victory for Die Roten. In the 83rd minute saw Harry Kane play a headed ball forward for Muller to chase. Unselfishly, after doing most of the work, the German forward played the ball across the goal to find Tel in a good scoring position. The French forward has become a super-sub for Tuchel this season, scoring important goals from the bench on a consistent basis.
Bayern saw out the remainder of the game by maintaining steady possession and became the only remaining undefeated team left in Group A of the Champions League. They remain top of the points table with six points.