Lage and the bus set up to avoid a subway that only had a rear view mirror (the Bayern Munich-Benfica chronicle) – Observer

Bayern Munich on Wednesday, FC Porto on Sunday. Benfica had the most complicated week of the season so far, with the visit to a six-time European champion and the first Clásico of the season, and there was no doubt when it came to highlighting that the first result was important in the Champions League accounts and the second was relevant in the Championship accounts.

Coming from three consecutive victories after the defeat to Feyenoord in Luz, the first of Bruno Lage’s new era, the red-and-black team arrived at the visit to Germany with six points in three rounds and in a qualifying position for the playoff access to the round of 16 of the Champions League — and with one less game than all the clubs that played this Tuesday. However, the new format of the competition also forces us to look ahead. And Benfica already knew that they would leave the Allianz Arena with visits to Monaco and Juventus and a reception to Barcelona to complete.

In the preview, Bruno Lage was asked about the fact that Benfica only had defeats at home to Bayern Munich — and devalued the story. “The weight of the story only mattered if it was always the same people playing the same game. As they are different people, I think that is the challenge. It’s the challenge of being able to come here and play our game. This is the most important thing, we are convinced of what we have to do, the game we can play against this opponent and win points. It would be very important for us at this moment”, explained the red-black coach.

Now, in this context, Bruno Lage surprised and created a true revolution in the starting eleven. Without Alexander Bah, who is injured and did not even travel to Germany, the coach changed the tactical system and opted for a line of three defenders, with Issa Kaboré and Álvaro Carreras appearing on the sides of the defense. Di María, Florentino and Pavlidis all started on the bench, with Renato Sanches and Amdouni jumping into the starting lineup. On the other side, in a Bayern Munich team that had just three points in three rounds – one win, two defeats – Vincent Kompany launched Olise, Harry Kane and Gnabry in attack, and João Palhinha was also a starter.

The opening moments immediately demonstrated that the tactical design that had been anticipated was correct: António Silva, Otamendi and Tomás Araújo appeared in line, Renato, Kökçü and Aursnes took charge of the midfield and Amdouni and Aktürkoğlu were the two most advanced elements. Benfica barely touched the ball in the first ten minutes, with Bayern installing themselves completely in the opposite midfield and exerting high pressure that suffocated the Reds, but the truth is that the Germans also did not have the capacity to create danger.

Benfica had a huge population density in the last defensive third, essentially in the central corridor, and Bayern did not have space to play with short, neat passes in an organized manner, almost always bumping into the wall set up by Bruno Lage. The Reds only tried to play on the counterattack and quick transition, although this rarely happened, but the truth is that Bayern also took half an hour to make a shot.

When he did, however, he unlocked that aspect. Konrad Laimer was first and missed the target (30′), Harry Kane shot from outside the area for Trubin to slot in (32′), the same Harry Kane shot low for the Ukrainian goalkeeper to also save (33′) and Bayern He ended up getting very close to the goal almost before half-time. In the same move, both Kane and Gnabry forced Trubin into two crucial interventions (38′), with the red-and-black goalkeeper being mainly responsible for maintaining the scoreless score at the end of the first half.

At half-time, after Musiala had also forced Trubin to make another careful save (45′), Bayern and Benfica were tied goalless in Munich: the reds were following the defensive plan, allowing very little to the Germans, but putting on a very meager performance and grey. Still, the truth is that Bruno Lage and company were 45 minutes away from doing what Benfica had never done — score at Bayern’s home ground.

Bruno Lage made changes right at half-time and replaced Kaboré and Amdouni with Beste and Pavlidis, betting on the quality of the German player on the right flank and the greater pragmatism of the Greek forward in attack. The logic remained, as Bayern had the ball and was completely inserted into the opposing midfield. and Benfica couldn’t get the ball and could only breathe in quick transitions, but it was clear that Pavlidis’ entry offered an offensive reference and another criterion in the exit that hadn’t appeared in the first half.

The red coach didn’t like what he saw and changed things again before game time, introducing Di María in place of Aktürkoğlu, while Kompany responded by replacing Olise with Leroy Sané. Bayern grew as the second half progressed, but continued to find a giant Trubin in goal: the Ukrainian goalkeeper saved a shot from Sané (59′) and another from outside the area (64′) and held the score to zero, which remained on the scoreboard.

The wall, however, ended up falling. Sané entered the field to give Álvaro Carreras a lot of trouble and unbalance him and crossed to the far post on the right, where Kane headed the ball and saw Musiala appear in the small area heading past Trubin (67′). Kompany moved again shortly afterwards, replacing Gnabry with Coman to freshen up the attack again, and the game entered a more tepid phase — without a red reaction and without the Germans implementing much intensity from the moment they unlocked the marker.

Bruno Lage also launched Arthur Cabral and Rollheiser, but nothing changed until the final whistle. Benfica lost to Bayern Munich in Germany, maintaining a completely negative record at the Bavarians’ home ground, and recorded their second consecutive defeat in the Champions League. The red-and-blacks entered the Allianz Arena by bus — but they forgot that they couldn’t have just one rear-view mirror.