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VBefore the game that was to be important for Lazio, Mateo Musacchio probably knew that Robert Lewandowski had already scored 31 goals this season. The Roma defender has been preparing for the duel with the FC Bayern forward in recent days. In modern football you do it with statistics and videos. And after the game, which was not very important for Lazio, Musacchio probably knew that Lewandowski had it easier than ever with his 32nd goal.
Eight minutes had passed at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome when Musacchio stopped with the ball in his own penalty area. Joshua Kimmich was after him. Fast, but not very fast either. But the defender obviously felt so pressured that he frantically passed the ball to goalkeeper Pepe Reina. It just made it too hectic. He didn’t play the ball hard enough. Lewandowski intercepted him, left him behind Reina and shot him into the empty goal. Musacchio was substituted in the 31st minute. There was nothing to suggest he was injured.
Of course, it wasn’t just Musacchio’s fault that FC Bayern won the first leg of the Champions League first leg against Lazio Roma 4-1 (3-0). Caused the first goal early. That may have triggered the Romans’ match plan, but even after that, the sixth table of Italian Serie A was overwhelmed by the defending champion. Before the break, Munich’s Jamal Musiala (minute 24) and Leroy Sané (42) followed. Then it was the turn of two Romans: Francesco Acerbi hit the wrong goal (46th), Joaquín Correa hit the goal (49th).
Tuesday night began the decisive phase of the current season for the all winners of Munich, in which, unlike in the past, they can no longer win everything. A few weeks ago they failed in the DFB Cup against the second division footballers from Kiel. It could have something to do with the fact that Hansi Flick, his coach, pointed out the day before the match in Rome that a knockout match in the Champions League was a “special thing” and that it was a Bayern team that I was expecting someone who is “particularly motivated.”
For the special occasion, Flick came up with something special. He placed Jamal Musiala in the important position of Thomas Müller, which was left vacant because Thomas Müller was infected with Covid-19. He has exceptional technology, but little experience. Next Friday he will turn 18 years old. “He’s a player who can hold the ball, he’s dangerous and he can play the last pass,” Flick said before the game in the “Sky” interview. “I think he will play a good game today.”
It only took until the 24th minute for the coach’s prophecy to come true. On the left, winger Alphonso Davies dribbled past a Roman. He passed the ball to Leon Goretzka, who passed it to Musiala. And because Lazio’s defenders didn’t move to the middle fast enough, Musiala was only on the edge of the box. He took the ball, carefully placed it in front of him and threw it flat into the corner of the goal. The extraordinary technique was noticeable, but not the lack of experience. He is now the youngest scorer in FC Bayern’s Champions League history.
The 2-0 came from a good play by Bayern. The 3-0 is again a mistake for the Romans. They fumbled to the right, Kingsley Coman grabbed it, dribbled into the box and shot on goal. Reina saved the ball, but Leroy Sané sank it with the margin (42.).
It was also the Coman-Sané combination that started Munich’s fourth goal in the 46th minute, even if it was completed by a Roman. From his own half of the game, Coman fit in with Sané, who also ran away in his own half of the game. And when he entered the area after a long sprint and passed through the middle, Francesco Acerbi tripped over the ball in his own goal.
Four goals against in the first leg in your own stadium? That really means the end. After all, Lazio scored one more thing: in the 49th minute, Joaquín Correa ran through the area and fired the ball over Manuel Neuer. That was one of the few oversights in the Bayern defense which, unlike on Saturday, they defended strongly in Frankfurt. That was also due to Niklas Süle, who was re-featured as a right-back by Flick despite public criticism from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. This time, Süle played almost flawlessly and even dared to dribble over and over again. That was another positive finding on an evening that Leon Goretzka, who played from the beginning for the first time since his Covid 19 disease, said: “Today we were in Matchday mode again.”
