In the Champions League match, Bayern Munich recorded a triumphant 3-0 victory over Lazio, leading to an aggregate score of 3-1. The supporters at the Allianz Arena were fired up, matching the rhythmic beats echoing from the Südkurve drummers, and basking in the relentless, fierce attacks launched by the Bayern Munich players. It brought about a sense of nostalgia, replicating better, older times. It wasn’t a signal that everything was perfect, far from it. Bayer Leverkusen is stealing the limelight in the league. Moreover, Thomas Tuchel, the coach, will exit at the end of the season, a fact that strengthens the idea of sweeping around a third of his under-achieving team. Regardless, the fleeting hope remains as Bayern are still contending in the Champions League, their mission still unfinished. The front four players are so compelling that one would go to great lengths to watch them, not to mention they still have the mighty Harry Kane on their side, the irony being that Kane, who has never clinched a trophy, might just be the one to bring victory to these routine winners. In the game against Lazio, Kane’s 32nd and 33rd goals were the ones that made all the difference. This, and the outstanding performance by Thomas Müller, left the ninth-ranking team in Serie A with very little to counter. At this point in the season, any bit of fortune is welcomed, such as Kane’s crucially timed goal, coming right after Lazio’s Ciro Immobile fluffed a clear header. Considering their current predicament – sore from a Bundesliga title loss after 11 years and on the hunt for a new manager – the plan of action if they fell further behind remains a mystery.
The formidable Immobile failed to score from close proximity, and shortly after, Aleksandar Pavlovic directed a cross-ball towards Müller on the right. Throughout the game, most of Bayern’s pressure originated from the seamless interaction between Joshua Kimmich and Leroy Sané, even though their final delivery was frequently insufficient. On this occasion, however, Müller ingeniously rebounded the ball, unsettling a well-oriented Lazio defence and providing Raphaël Guerreiro with an open shot. Despite Guerreiro’s unpolished strike, Kane was positioned adeptly enough to head the ball towards the net, a shot which Ivan Provedel potentially could’ve blocked. Regardless, Bayern successfully turned their season around in a remarkably short time.
The crowd’s excitement heightened. A splendid opportunity was squandered by Jamal Musiala falling just wide of the target from close range. During this time, Bayern seemed to tap into their once-lost confidence and stillness, which proved vital in dismantling opposition teams with certainty.
In the ending moments of the first half, Lazio, who had appeared insecure all evening during set pieces, unsuccessfully cleared a corner from their left. A powerful volley from Matthijs de Ligt was redirected into the goal by the head of Müller, offering Bayern a chance to take a breath.
Suddenly, Lazio’s game strategy, which Maurizio Sarri had cautiously applied throughout 130 minutes of the knockout match, required recalibration. While Felipe Anderson proved a powerhouse on the right wing, Luis Alberto was undoubtedly the key player of their midfield trio. However, for Lazio to break the repetitive deep defence tactic and develop robust direct counterattacks, ball possession was a necessity. Bayern displayed no willingness to relinquish control.
Adding to the suspense, with half an hour left for the game, Sarri dared to perform a triple substitution. He exchanged captain Immobile, boasting 206 goals in his 329 matches for Lazio, for Argentinian forward Taty Castellanos, who held a record of two goals in 25 games. Though the change hinted at desperation, it mirrored Lazio’s struggles to adapt their playing style this season and pursue different winning strategies. This season, no Serie A team has won fewer points when trailing in matches.
In the course of Sarri’s attempt to expand the game, with his push to elevate the full-back positions and a bold move to navigate more assertively through the midfield, something didn’t seem right. The dispersion was incorrect, the connections were misplaced and before long, Bayern found their groove again: regaining possession higher up the pitch and aggressively exploiting the now vacant areas. Consequently, Kane seized the advantage to strike home his second goal, following the deflection of Sané’s shot in a four-against-three attack. Despite Müller and Sané narrowly missing opportunities to enhance the final score towards the end, Bayern held a significant edge: sufficient not merely to secure victory, but to reignite a brief fantasy of reclaiming their crown. – Guardian.