Bayern Munich suffered a defeat at Lazio in the Champions League. Bayern missed several chances to score and received a penalty and a red card. Ex-Dortmund player and Lazio icon Ciro Immobile converted the penalty in a routine and unsustainable manner (69′). The Munich team only showed a decent performance for one half. Then there was another break-in.
With Joshua Kimmich and Thomas Müller in the starting line-up, the Munich team missed the opening goal in the first half of the game on Wednesday evening (February 14, 2024) despite great opportunities. In the second half of the game, the Tuchel team fell back into old patterns, according to which Sané, Kimmich & Co no longer worked together. The crisis in which FC Bayern Munich finds itself has no end yet.
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Tuchel “frustrated and angry”
“We have to take the lead in the first half. There was a reaction. We had three clear chances, we have to do those things,” said Thomas Müller at DAZN. The second half was “characterized by uncertainty again”: “It was a bit slapstick.”
Coach Thomas Tuchel was “frustrated and angry” after the serious setback in the Champions League. “We lost the game on Wednesday evening at Lazio Rome, I don’t know if Lazio won,” said Tuchel after the 0-1 defeat at DAZN. “We completely lost track in the second half. But we still have a second leg.” According to the data service provider Opta, Tuchel suffered his tenth defeat in his 43rd competitive game as Bayern coach – that’s how many times his predecessor Julian Nagelsmann had lost in his 84 games.
Concentrated, playful start from Bayern
From the first minute of the game, the Munich team tried to forget the shame of the defeat in Leverkusen. Coach Thomas Tuchel returned to the back four, in which winter signings Eric Dier and Sacha Boey were missing this time.
With a lot of self-confidence, speed and precise play, the first big chance didn’t take long to arrive. Leroy Sané set up perfectly for Joshua Kimmich, who shot just past the right angle (2nd minute). Five minutes later the next big chance: Kimmich looked for Thomas Müller deep in the right penalty area. The veteran artistically placed almost from the baseline straight back into the middle, where Harry Kane shot unusually well over the goal.
Lazio needed 18 minutes to score first: after the Romans’ first corner, central defender Alessio Romagnoli headed, but was clearly too weak to put Manuel Neuer in trouble. If Luis Alberto shot a little later, Neuer would have been powerless, but the ball went past the goal to the right.
Free kick variation worth seeing
A free kick after half an hour almost gave the visitors the lead: Kane ran over the ball in the variation, Goretzka played to the left, where Müller stopped the ball for Sané. The precision shooter’s shot narrowly missed the Biancocelesti goal to the left.
The best move of the first half of the game didn’t lead to a goal either. The ball came to Jamal Musiala via the very agile and committed Sané, Müller and Leon Goretzka, who, after a short dribble from six meters on the left, fell too far behind.
The most important finding of this first half of the game: The Bayern collective was visible, the attitude was right from Manuel Neuer at the back to Harry Kane at the front – no player showed any deficits. Kimmich and Goretzka in the double six harmonized, the defensive chain did not allow a single shot from star striker Immobile. Only one goal was missing.
Shocking moment at the beginning of the second half
But at the latest when the advanced Dayot Upamecano lost a duel against Alberto near the halfway line shortly after the start of the second half, the fans were reminded of the weakness of Bayern’s defense that they had already experienced so often. And it immediately became dangerous: The Dane Gustav Isaksen approached Neuer on the left, who with a reflex prevented Munich from falling behind.
But Munich quickly rallied: Right-back Noussair Mazraoui, who stood out with good offensive moves, followed up shortly afterwards and brought the ball in front of the goal from the baseline. Müller and Musiala were lurking there ready to take a shot, but the Lazioli were able to prevent Bayern from scoring.
Bayern are playing hard
As the game went on, the German champions found it increasingly difficult to match the performance of the first half. Despite significantly more possession of the ball than Rome, there were fewer moments of surprise, the precision in passing decreased significantly and there were no more chances to score for a long time. Lazio prepared their defensive work in midfield and narrowed the spaces.
Another major defensive error
Then the referee François Letexier moved into the center of the action. During an ambush-like counterattack by the hosts, three Romans ran into the penalty area and caused confusion in the visitors’ backline. Upamecano pounced on Isaksen, who was standing free on the right, and hit the Lazio attacker’s ankle during his defensive action. The French referee immediately pointed to the penalty spot and, to Bayern’s dismay, drew red. Immobile’s sharp shot down the right sealed Bayern Munich’s defeat.
When they were outnumbered, Bayern didn’t give up and hardly managed to get any shots against the traditionally well-defending Italians. Pedro was denied a huge chance by Neuer in stoppage time. On March 5th, Bayern have the next and last chance to avoid being eliminated from the second competition after the cup exit.