Benfica was unable to avoid defeat on the trip to Bayer Munich (1-0), in a match in the 4th round of the Champions League league phase. Jamal Musiala was the antidote to breaking down the Reds’ defensive wall.
Aware of the responsibility and demands of the challenge in Munich, Bruno Lage promoted a profound change in his structure, joining António Silva to the duo Otamendi-Tomás Araújo in the defensive axis and leaving the attack without a more fixed reference, with Akturkoglu and Amdouni as the most important duo. early. But we’re not far ahead and we’ll explain this “little”.
This tactical change sent a clear image to the opponent: we are ready for defensive mode. And that was the case for most of the meeting.
The Reds had very little ball in the first fifteen minutes – Bayern had 80% possession – and suffered some setbacks during this period, although without relative danger to goalkeeper Trubin. However, the Ukrainian international would become the most prominent figure in the first half.
Despite this clear territorial dominance, which pushed the Red team into their midfield, the truth is that the Munich team needed 30 minutes to get the first shot, with Laimer shooting wide of the Eagles’ goal. But that moment was like a click for Kompany’s men.
At 32′, Harry Kane shot at Trubin and, a minute later, a repositioning by Bruno Lage’s team led to another shot from Kane, which Trubin saved again. The Benfica goalkeeper shone again, in the 38th minute, with a double save on shots from Kane and Gnabry, after an error by António Silva in the first phase of construction.
Finally, the break arrived and Benfica (and Trubin) could rest a little from the strong insistence of the Bavarians.
Changes, Trubin and… Musiala
Zero shots on goal from Neuer. This record says a lot about Benfica’s first half in Munich. Bruno Lage realized that something needed to change to add a little boldness to the enormous defensive rigor and risked two chips when the match restarted: Beste and Pavlidis to replace Amdouni and Kaboré. And one more before game time: Di María to replace Akturkoglu.
The pieces were different, but the dynamics remained unchanged. Bayern didn’t take their foot off the accelerator and the only reason they didn’t reach the lead was Trubin, who saved everything as long as he could. Olise (49′) and Sané (59′ and 64′) tried hard, but the Ukrainian seemed unbeatable. But it wasn’t, to the unhappiness of the red and black people.
At 68′, after several insistent moves, a three-tone play resulted in 1-0. Sané’s cross, Kane’s header into the heart of the Benfica area and Musiala, alone, headed the ball towards the goal. Simple.
With just over 20 minutes to play until the final whistle, Benfica had no ability to counter Bayern’s dominance and didn’t even bother Manuel Neuer, an authentic spectator tonight at the Allianz Arena.
Man of the Match Flashscore: Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
