Bayern Munich and Gnabry drive Chelsea towards Champions Lea

This time Bayern Munich finished with the authority of a side with no interest in ever letting Chelsea off the hook again. The gulf in class was enormous from beginning to end and, while there will be no shortage of nostalgia before the second leg takes place at the Allianz Arena on 18 March, it is unlikely to feel like much more than a sightseeing exercise when Frank Lampard’s erratic side visit the scene of their greatest triumph w88th .

The painful truth is that a 3-0 defeat flattered Chelsea and, barring one of the greatest comebacks in the history of this competition, this tie is surely over. Bayern, seemingly on a mission to erase the memories of their inexplicable defeat to Chelsea in the 2012 final, were just as devastating as they were when they smashed Tottenham 7-2 in October. The Bundesliga pacesetters made the side sitting fourth in the Premier League look second-rate and all but secured their place in the last eight of the Champions League during a brutal second half, sealing an emphatic win with two goals from Serge Gnabry and Robert Lewandowski’s 39th goal of the season.



It was Gnabry who took the game away from Chelsea with an electrifying four-minute burst shortly after half-time; to think Arsenal let him slip from their grasp. Gnabry has scored six in his last two visits to London and his understanding with Lewandowski, who created both of the German’s goals, was far too slick for Chelsea w88 casino . 

Lampard made no excuses. Chelsea remain a work in progress and their naive approach was summed up by Jorginho ruling himself out of the second leg after picking up a booking for dissent. There was also a late red card for Marcos Alonso after a VAR review spotted the Spaniard’s elbow on Lewandowski and, for all the references to that famous night in Munich eight years ago, there was never any sense that Chelsea believed they belonged in Bayern’s company.

They conceded territory and possession from the first whistle. Bayern pressed aggressively, which has been their way since replacing Niko Kovac with Hans-Dieter Flick in November, and could have scored five times during the opening period. Joshua Kimmich and Thiago Alcântara controlled midfield, Kingsley Coman and Gnabry tormented Chelsea on the flanks and danger flared whenever Lewandowski dropped deep to link with Thomas Müller.

Chelsea looked startled by the way the man on the ball always seemed to be surrounded by two red shirts. There was less than a minute on the clock when Jorginho cheaply conceded possession near his own area, allowing Müller to test Willy Caballero with a low drive.

In an echo of 2012, however, Bayern were profligate during the first half. Coman burst clear before firing wide. Müller placed a free header against the bar and fizzed a fearsome effort off target. As for Lewandowski, he was encountering frustration in his attempts to end a run of six knockout games without a goal. Twice Bayern’s top goalscorer burst behind the Chelsea defence; twice he was denied by Caballero, who was making his first appearance in the Champions League since Manchester City’s 3-1 defeat to Monaco in March 2017.

Chelsea, using the 3-4-2-1 system that brought them victory over Tottenham last Saturday, offered little despite going close to snatching an unlikely lead when Alonso tested Manuel Neuer. While Ross Barkley and Mason Mount worked hard to support Olivier Giroud, the England midfielders lacked quality on the ball. The threat from Chelsea was sporadic and although Giroud had impressed against Spurs, the French striker’s cumbersome movement allowed Bayern’s centre-backs, Jérôme Boateng and David Alaba, to step up and squeeze the play.

Bayern knew they were unlikely to be inconvenienced by balls over the top and, on the rare occasions when they were forced to turn and chase back, the German champions were able to rely on the astonishing recovery speed of Alphonso Davies, their 19-year-old left-back. In fairness to Lampard, Tammy Abraham did not look fit after coming on for Giroud and was seen grabbing his hamstring after warming down at the end https://www.w88thais.com/ww88-best-betting-online-with-withdrawal-speed-thailand/ .