The Build Up
Manchester United returned to the Champions League for the first time in 2 seasons, they finished 3rd in the Premier League to earn this place in the competition and they were looking to make an immediate impression and send out a statement by beating Bayern Munich after their poor start to the premier league season.
Bayern Munich had won their league title on the final day against Borussia Dortmund, their 11th win in a row. They enter the competition as one of the favourites, having won the Champions league cup in the 2019/20 season, a good start to their group stage campaign would only support this.
The Starting Line-ups
Bayern Munich
Manchester United
Chances for both sides
The game kicked off and the first chance of the game was for Man United, it was produced by Eriksen weaving around the Bayern defence. He managed to get the cross off but Davies cleared it at the back post before Pellistri could attach himself to it. The ball fell back to Eriksen who got his shot away but Ulriech was able to get his body behind it to save the shot.
The deadlock was broken in the 28th minute when Sane cut inside and then played a one-two with Kane before getting his shot away. The shot was fairly tame but Onana made a mistake and found the ball going through him and into his own net. 1-0 Bayern after 28 minutes.
Bayern extended this advantage only 4 minutes later through an effort from Gnabry. The movement started with Musiala moving down the left hand side of the pitch and getting the better of Dalot in a one-on-one scenario. He picked out Gnabry, who had no players near him. Gnabry then buried the ball into the bottom corner of the Man United goal.
Manchester United began to build up some momentum towards the end of the half with two good chances that they created. The first came from some nice link-up play on the left side between Rashford and Reguilon. The ball came flying across the face of the Bayern goal, but there was no player there to meet it.
The second of these was from Dalot crossing the ball into the box after making his way up the right hand side of the pitch, this cross made it onto the head of Hojland – whose header couldn’t quite meet the target.
Half time came with Bayern holding their 2-0 lead. It hadn’t been easy for either side, with Man U forging some good chances and testing Ulreich on multiple occasions. No changes would be made by either manager for the re-start of play.
It was only 4 minutes into the second half when Man United finally made their chances count. It came through Hojlund. Rashford made his way up the left flank and forced his way into the box, he then squared the ball for the Danish striker who fired it towards the goalkeeper. The shot deflected off the Bayern defender Kim, past Ulreich and nestled itself in the back of the net. Man U pulled one back and will continue to build up pressure.
It was only 2 minutes later when Bayern had their next chance, a penalty shout for a header that was sent towards Eriksens arm. After a VAR review a penalty was given to the Germans and Kane stepped up to take it….He calmly slotted his spot kick into the bottom left corner, no chance for Onana. 3-1 to Bayern.
Soon after, there was another chance for Bayern as Musiala and Sane picked their way through the defence. Sane got his shot away and struck the post as they almost grabbed a 4th for the hosts.
The action soon started to ramp up with Rashford and Kane trading chances, each trying their best to get another goal for their team, but neither of them were able to find the target.
The managers from both sides tried to shake things up even further, with both making a flurry of changes within minutes. The German duo Gnabry and Musiala exited the pitch, with Coman and Choupo-Moting entering the game and looking to have an impact. Eriksen made way for Mctominay. Ten Hag was looking to add a different dynamic to his midfield.
After these changes it was Bayern who came flooding forward again. Onana was called into action on both occasions. Both chances came from the Bayern subs, with the two of them both having shots on the goal, but neither of them finding the target.
More changes then ensued for both sides. For Man United, Martial came on for the goalscoring Hojland and Pellistri was subbed off for Garnacho. At the Bayern end Sane and Kane were called to the bench a few minutes later. Tel and Muller were exchanged for the pair of them.
As the game was coming towards the end of the action it was Casemiro who gave hope to the visitors with a goal in the 88th minute. Rashford and Martial both combined to get the ball into the box, the Brazilian fell to the floor but was still able to swipe at the ball and score for United, putting them just a goal down the Bayern.
This goal didn’t do anything to deter the hosts as just 4 minutes later, and now in extra time, the substitute, Tel, scored his first goal in the competition. The Frenchman fired the ball past Onana from close range after Kimmich sent a ball over the top of the Manchester defence. It was the 4th goal of the night for the Germans, restoring their two goal lead. Manchester United had a mountain to climb in the last few minutes of extra time.
The final goal of the night came from Casemiro who scored in the fifth minute of added time. The Brazilian got himself into the right place to put in Fernandes’ ball and give United 3 goals and a slim chance of still getting something from this game.
Casemiro’s second concluded the goal-scoring for the night, in what had been a 7 goal thriller in Germany. It was the home team that came out on top with a 4-3 scoreline in their favour.
The Bayern challenge had started strong, and they’d secured three important points and took the top spot in their group. The loss was a heavy one for Man U. Their three goals weren’t enough and they will be hoping for some better results in matches to come or they may find themselves back in the Europa League, like last season, or even worse, out of Europe altogether.
Match Stats
