Jamal Musiala spared Bayern Munich’s blushes against Benfica as he scored from a Harry Kane assist to hand Vincent Kompany a big Champions League win.
- Bayern edged out Benfica 1-0
- Musiala emerged as the difference-maker
- Kane had an ordinary outing but set up the goal
TELL ME MORE
Bayern were heading into this fixture after two consecutive defeats in Europe, against Aston Villa and Barcelona respectively, which saw them reeling in 28th spot in the Champions League standings among 36 teams. Despite a need to record an important win, Bayern looked limited in the first half, as they struggled to string together any kind of fluid attacks.
Benfica were happy to let their more illustrious opponents keep the ball and rely on counters. They kept it it tight through the middle which forced Bayern to spread out to the wings but some exceptional match reading and anticipation from the two full-backs, Issa Kabore and Alvaro Carreras, offered little joy to Michael Olise and Serge Gnabry.
The match was crying out for fresh impetus and after the break, Bayern showed more intent and purpose with Leroy Sane being introduced from the bench to replace Olise. They kept raiding Benfica’s defence with intent and finally in the 67th minute, the Bavarians got the breakthrough.
It was Sane who swung in a cross from the right flank for Kane and the England striker did just enough to head the ball across the face of the goal for an unmarked Musiala, who nodded home under little pressure. After drawing first blood, there was no looking back for the Bundesliga leaders as they ran down the clock to secure all three points.
On the back of this win, Bayern climbed to the 17th spot, a rung above Real Madrid in the standings.
THE MVP
Cometh the hour, cometh the man! Goals wins matches and Musiala was in the right place at the right time. Kane had an ordinary outing on Wednesday but Musiala’s finish made sure that he emerged as the difference-maker. No wonder he is being courted by the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid.
THE BIG LOSER
Benfica manager Bruno Lage came looking for a point and he left empty-handed. His men followed his instructions, maintained their defensive shape in the first half but struggled to resist Bayern’s relentless pressure in the second and ultimately conceded after the hour-mark. It is difficult to defend with the same intensity and concentration against the German giants in their backyard and Lage learnt it the hard way. Even after conceding, Benfica could hardly get out of their blocks as Kompany’s men safely kept them at arm’s length.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
After returning to winning ways in Europe, Bayern will travel to St. Pauli on Saturday for a Bundesliga fixture. Then, they head into the international break.