FC Bayern dominated the Champions League at Aston Villa for a long time, but then Manuel Neuer made a mistake that meant the first defeat under coach Kompany: The keeper completely misjudged a long ball and the English super joker struck. A wild game with great goals is developing in Leipzig.
Aston Villa – FC Bayern Munich 1:0 (0:0)
Due to a mistake by Manuel Neuer, FC Bayern suffered their first defeat under Vincent Kompany in the Champions League. In the eighth competitive game with their new and so far highly praised coach, the Munich team lost 0-1 (0-0) at Aston Villa. The record champions were dominant, especially in the second half, but were unable to convince in their play and were largely out of ideas in front of goal.
During a counterattack by the hosts, Jhon Duran (79th) took advantage of Neuer’s positional error with a great finish. He first rushed out of his box, then turned back and then stayed too far in front of the goal. Konrad Laimer, who had previously been fouled and hobbled, couldn’t keep up with the pass to the goal scorer. For the first time, the Munich team had to pay dearly for their risky play under Kompany.
In an intense game, the German record champions’ impressive streak of 41 preliminary round games without defeat in the premier class was broken. Either way: There needs to be an improvement in the upcoming away duel at FC Barcelona with former Munich sextuple coach Hansi Flick on October 23rd – as well as in the next Bundesliga summit on Sunday in Frankfurt.
In the atmospheric Villa Park, Bayern were painfully confronted with their first major final defeat: in the stands, where the Munich fans were also standing, there was the TV commentary on the winning goal for the Birmingham club in the 1982 national championship final. At that time, Bayern were exploiting their chances , this time they at least started confidently. Kompany didn’t deviate one bit from his dominant, high-risk style of play. However, he initially did without Jamal Musiala. The magic foot, said Kompany, “didn’t feel great” and the league clash against Leverkusen (1-1) “cost a lot of energy”. However, star striker Harry Kane was there after his ankle injury.
The homecoming player had Bayern’s first chance in front of Villa fan Prince William, but his header was offside (6th). It was the only opportunity for a long time, and inaccuracies crept into the Munich game. The balls were lost too quickly and there were deficiencies in the pressing. And at the front there was little to see of all the glory of the exhilarating opening win against Dinamo Zagreb (9:2). That was almost punished, but Pau Torres’ goal (22′) for Villa was also ruled offside. But the team of coach Unai Emery, who had thrown Bayern and Villarreal out of the premier class in 2022, stuck with it. The Bayern defense, which had moved far up, wobbled again and again. On the other hand, world champion goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez directed a long-range shot from Michael Olise (39th) over the crossbar.
At the restart Musiala came on for the weak Kingsley Coman. As a result, Bayern gained a clear advantage, but Kane and Co. were hardly compelling in front of the goal. Aleksandar Pavlović shot the ball at Ezri Konsa’s elbow (53′), but didn’t get the required hand penalty. Olise (57th) aimed too imprecisely, Musiala (64th) got stuck after a fine solo. Bayern tried to maintain order and build up the game constructively – in vain. And so it happened, as it had to happen at some point: a counterattack, a mistake by Neuer as the last man. The rush of the first few weeks has now worn off.
RB Leipzig – Juventus Turin 2:3 (1:0)
Wild final phase, bitter defeat: RB Leipzig is still not getting going in the Champions League. Coach Marco Rose’s team lost 2:3 (1:0) against the Italian record champions Juventus Turin in front of their home crowd despite being in the lead and outnumbered, negligently wasting their first win of the season in the premier class. In the race for the round of 16, RB is now under pressure with no points in its account.
After a tough opening phase, Benjamin Sesko (30th) redeemed Leipzig, who had made a 1-2 false start at Atletico Madrid. Dusan Vlahovic equalized (50th), then things got hectic: First, Juve keeper Michele Di Gregorio was shown a red card after a handball outside the penalty area (59th), then Sesko, who had the advantage, scored a little later with a hand penalty (65th) to take the lead again . But Vlahovic (68th) equalized again before Francisco Conceicao (83rd) turned the game around. In the upcoming home game, RB will be challenged against Liverpool FC on October 23rd (October 23rd).
RB had recently gained self-confidence for the duel with Juve in the Bundesliga. After two zero numbers, the knot broke last weekend in the 4-0 win against FC Augsburg. Rose didn’t see any reason to change his starting eleven. Only Christoph Baumgartner moved into the starting lineup for Antonio Nusa. In the opening minutes, Lois Openda in particular caused unrest in the opposing half. Juve’s defender Bremer intercepted his first cross, and shortly afterwards Openda robustly prevailed against his opponent in a running duel. Bremer then had to leave the field with support (6th).
Unimpressed by Bremer’s early failure, the guests looked for a way forward, but were forced to make another substitution just a few minutes later. It didn’t go any further for Nicolas Gonzalez either (12th). Leipzig initially couldn’t find a way through the Italians’ compact defense, but they also defended consistently, so that there were hardly any chances on either side. Teun Koopmeiners finally tried from a distance, but put the shot well over the Leipzig goal (28th).
Vlahovic’s next attempt was strongly parried by Peter Gulacsi, and Sesko took advantage of the counterattack, finishing powerfully after a chip ball from Openda and giving Leipzig the lead. But after the break, Juve increased the pressure, Leipzig allowed more at the back and Vlahovic equalized. Both teams were now significantly more active offensively than in the first half. At the other end, Openda hit the post (53′), shortly afterwards the Belgian stormed towards Juve keeper Michele Di Gregorio again – and the goalkeeper saw a red card for handball outside the penalty area (59′). Douglas Luiz blocked the subsequent free kick with his arm, and Sesko confidently converted the penalty. But the game ended in a hectic final phase.
