Bayern Munich grind out crucial win away at Galatasaray
Bayern Munich continued their unbeaten start in the Champions League with a 3-1 win against Galatasaray in Turkey on Tuesday. The Bavarian club had to dig deep to clinch this win since the home side created several chances. Bayern remain top of group A in the Champions League with nine points, courtesy of goals from Kingsley Coman, Harry Kane, and Jamal Musiala against Galatasaray.
Thomas Tuchel made one change to the team that started in 3-1 win against Mainz on Saturday. Noussair Mazraoui started in the right-back position after recovering from a minor injury that he suffered during the international break. The Moroccan defender’s inclusion in the starting XI allowed Konrad Laimer to replace the injured Leon Goretzka in the midfield.
The home side started the game well by dominating the possession and keeping Die Roten forwards at bay. The only missing link was the creation of clear-cut chances. Bayern made sure that Galatasaray had to pay for not capitalising on the good start as Kingsley Coman fired home in the 7th minute to open the scoring.
Leroy Sane provided the clever pass to set up Coman. It was a very similar move to the French forward’s goal against Mainz on Saturday. Galatasaray didn’t let the goal bog them down as they instantly forced a terrific save from Sven Ulreich in the ninth minute. They came close to scoring the equaliser a couple of minutes as Sacha Boey played a dangerous cross from the left flank, only for Kerem Akturkoglu to miss a sitter.
Bayern were very sloppy on the ball, conceding possession in dangerous areas to allow the home side to create chances. After creating several good and half chances, Galatasaray got the best opportunity of scoring the equaliser in the 28th minute. Joshua Kimmich had a poor start to the game as he was second best to every challenge, and his passing was uncharacteristically average. The German midfielder ended up bringing Mauro Icardi down with a late challenge to concede the penalty. The Argentine duly accepted the gift and converted from the spot.
Galatasaray dominated the rest of the half after getting the equaliser as Bayern struggled to have a good spell of possession. The home side almost got a lead at the end of the half as Icardi missed from close range after Lucas Torreira won the ball near Die Roten’s box.
The second half also saw the Turkish side dominate the possession. They kept on creating chances like they had done in the first half of the game. Die Roten had to defend resolutely to tackle waves of Galatasaray’s attack. The resilience from the visiting side eventually paid off in the final 20 minutes of the game.
After a neat bit of linkup between Coman and Mazraoui on the right flank in the 73rd minute, the ball reached Jamal Musiala in the box. The youngster cleverly found Harry Kane’s run in front of the goal. The English striker’s first shot was blocked, but he showed great awareness to pounce on the rebound and put Bayern back in the lead.
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Galatasaray were shell-shocked after conceding the goal as they had thoroughly dominated the Bavarian club. The visitors delivered a final blow to the Turkish club six minutes later as Musiala hammered past Fernando Muslera to seal the three points. Kane played the clever pass in the box to set up the young attacking midfielder.
The final ten minutes of the game were less eventful as Bayern had killed Galatasaray’s hopes of making a comeback with the third goal. The Bavarian club smartly managed the game to clinch all three points. It was a massive win for Bayern since they were far from their best on Tuesday.