Bayern Munich broke their teeth on an impressively realistic Villarreal formation (1-0), who won the first leg with their only shot on goal. Too dependent on a Robert Lewandowski locked by the central hinge and confronted by a Geronimo Rulli walking on the water, the Bavarians will have to get angry in the return leg if they are to continue their way.
by Anna Carreau, at the Estadio de la Cerámica
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Villarreal 1-0 Bayern Munich
Goal: Danjuma (8 .)and) for the yellow submarine
The Bavarians return empty-handed from a journey that turned out to be more complicated than expected in Valencia. After rolling the Old Lady in the round of 16, Unai Emery’s men rolled out their plan beautifully, again of exceptional realism, thanks to a shot “on target”, a goal, which resulted in a beautiful 1-0 victory against the very nice bavarian ogres this wednesday evening. Enough to make an exceptionally boiling and jam-packed Estadio de la Cerámica dream of a possible Champions League semi-final, fifteen years later†
Lo Cellshow
In the first period, the Bavarians barely saw the light of day, except for the flamboyant yellow jersey of their evening opponent, constantly present at the second ball. The first chance will still be for the Germans, and a certain Benjamin Pavard who tried his classic on the far post (6and† It counted without the opportunism of Arnaut Danjuma, who had stated in the press the same morning that… “one of the best wingers in the world” † The Dutchman completes a fine collective action, chopping off Dani Parejo’s shot to score his sixth goal in nine Champions League appearances this season (1-0, 8and†† Gerard Moreno is very close to doubling the lead two minutes later, but is caught by the Bavarian patrol (10and† Robert Lewandowski has all the trouble in the world to get rid of a Raúl Albiol who won’t let go of the sole, so that he has to go into exile in vain to escape the vigilance of the Spanish central hinge (19and† It is the same boss of the defense who will properly stop Serge Gnabry in the penalty area (21and†
Two free calls to order that surpass Giovani Lo Celso playing for two on his right wing, interspersed with good passes (28and29and) and a small bridge to the return of Alphonso Davies (31and† And since luck laughs at the daredevils, Francis Coquelin also decided to come and register a lucky (or brilliant?) pawn by sending a ball that looks like a cross and in the other side net of a Manuel Neuer not in his board ends up ( 41and† Fortunately for the Bavarians, the French midfielder is close to being flagged for offside.
The Rulli bends are not twisted
Returning from the locker room, Serge gives Gnabry a good blow and hits the post (50 .).and† But not enough to reverse the trend, because two minutes later Gerard Moreno finds the amounts (52and† Geronimo Rulli is slightly more lucky and avoids the equalizer thanks to disagreement between Gnabry and Lewandowski (58and† The Argentine goalkeeper raises and Alfonso Pedraza is close to scoring with his very first ball in the pass (59and† In any case, the evening’s gag goal could have been scored by Gerard Moreno, who intercepted a poor raise from Manuel Neuer, went too advanced, sending a lob from midfield that crashed within yards of goal, much to the chagrin of the 23,500 spectators all stand with their hands on their heads (63and† Hardly time to sit down or Kingsley Coman get a double chance, but Rulli gets away with it again (69and† On a small cloud, the Argentine porter makes a series of stops against Leroy Sané (79and82and) and the long balls in front to Danjuma and Moreno (73and88and† A conclusion drawn in Unai Emery, who locked up, while guaranteeing the hard-fought advantage. The hardest part is coming: we will have to reproduce this performance in Munich in six days.
Villarreal (4-3-3): Rulli-Foyth (Aurier, 81and), Albiol, Torres, Estupiñan-Capua, Parejo, Coquelin (Pedraza, 58and) – Lo Celso, Moreno, Danjuma (Chukwueze, 81and† Trainer: Unai Emery.
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1): Neuer – Pavard (Sule, 71and), Upamecano, Hernandez, Davies – Kimmich, Musiala – Coman, Müller (Goretzka, 62and), Gnabry (Sane, 62and) – Lewandowski. Trainer: Julian Nagelsman.
by Anna Carreau, at the Estadio de la Cerámica