Death in the stands during FC Bayern’s victory over Benfica Lisbon

„Wir haben unsere guten Momente gehabt, es war ein schwerer Gegner. Es ist wichtig, dass wir die drei Punkte geholt haben“, sagte Musiala bei DAZN. Von seiner offenbar neuen Stärke ist der 21-Jährige selbst überrascht: „Ich weiß nicht, was mit meinem Kopfball los ist gerade. Ich komme in gute Positionen, ich bin da.“

Überschattet wurde die Partie von einem medizinischen Notfall auf der Tribüne, weswegen weitgehend Fan-Stille in der ausverkauften Allianz Arena herrschte. Ein Zuschauer musste kurz nach dem Anpfiff notärztlich versorgt und dann abtransportiert werden. Die Bayern-Fans in der Südkurve stellten ihre lautstarke Unterstützung ein. „Das Leben steht über dem Sport“, teilte die Fan-Dachorganisation „Club Nr. 12“ über Instagram mit. 

Rund eine Stunde nach dem Schlusspfiff erreichte die Bayern „die traurige Nachricht“, der Mann sei auf dem Weg ins Krankenhaus gestorben. „Der FC Bayern ist in Trauer an der Seite der Angehörigen“, schrieb der Verein auf seiner Website „Es gibt definitiv wichtigere Dinge im Leben als Fußball“, sagte Sportvorstand Max Eberl. Die Fans hätten mit ihrem Verhalten einen angemessenen Respekt gezeigt, befand er.

“When something like that happens, it’s a nice sign of solidarity somewhere that the fans don’t put their own party in front, but also show a sign of humanity,” commented Bayern veteran Thomas Müller. Captain Manuel Neuer also felt for him. “We are very sorry and we didn’t really celebrate this victory in the dressing room,” said the goalkeeper.

23:1 shots on goal and 10:0 corners were proof of Bayern’s deserved victory. The pioneer of this important success was Leroy Sané. The national player came into the game after 56 minutes for the ineffective Michael Olise and immediately livened up the offensive game in front of national coach Julian Nagelsmann with his dribbling, crosses and his move towards the goal.

First winger João Palhinha put the ball up for an unsuccessful shot attempt. Then Sané shot dangerously twice himself, but was denied by the good Benfica goalkeeper Anatolij Trubin. Afterwards, Sané was the starting point for Musiala’s first header in the premier class. The national player used a header assist from Harry Kane. It was the well-deserved reward for a tireless and patient race in Munich.

Before kick-off, sports director Christoph Freund spoke to DAZN about “an unusual situation” for FC Bayern after the away defeats against Aston Villa and FC Barcelona. Only three points from the first three preliminary round games created some pressure. “We actually have to win every game,” said Freund about the goal of moving straight into the round of 16 and not having to go to an extra knockout round.

What was also unusual was that both teams had to reorganize their warm-up phase. Subway problems meant that many spectators did not make it to the stadium on time. That’s why it didn’t start until 9:15 p.m. on the square. And then the home game atmosphere only emerged for a very short time. The fans stopped their organized support when an emergency doctor was called into action in the middle tier.

In the unusual silence of the stadium, the hosts struggled to find gaps in the tight Benfica defense around former Bayern Munich player Renato Sanches. The precision of the final pass was often lacking. And what was on goal was parried by the Ukrainian Trubin. He was right twice after a corner when shots were fired by Kane and Serge Gnabry (38′).

After all: Defensively, the Munich team didn’t let anything go wrong two weeks after the 4-1 defeat in Barcelona. Coach Vincent Kompany no longer lets his central defenders Dayot Upamecano and Minjae Kim defend too wildly forward and relies more on control.

After the break, Jan-Niklas Beste, who was signed from FC Heidenheim in the summer, came into play at Benfica. The 25-year-old mainly had to help defensively against the relentless Bayern, who finally got Sané and Musiala on track.