FC Bayern beats Lazio Rome and advances to the quarter-finals

Champions League
Kane’s Wembley dream is alive: FC Bayern beats Lazio Rome and advances to the quarter-finals

In the prestigious Champions League competition, FC Bayern under Thomas Tuchel is still capable of great football evenings. After the best performance of the year and a brace from match winner Harry Kane (39th/66th minute), the Munich team celebrated a 3-0 (2-0) win against Lazio Rome on Tuesday evening, which was reminiscent of old Bayern qualities.

After the 0-1 defeat in the first leg, the national record champions stormed into the quarter-finals, which will be drawn on March 15th. Bayern and their English striker Kane kept their dream of the final at Wembley alive with their comeback in Europe – and coach Tuchel remains hopeful of a glorious farewell in the summer. In addition to Kane, premier class veteran Thomas Müller stood out in front of 75,000 spectators in the Allianz Arena as a goalscorer (45+2), preparer and driver.

A good evening for the still FC Bayern coach

“These are the most beautiful evenings, Champions League,” said Tuchel on Prime Video. And it should actually be another enjoyable evening for the Bayern coach, who is leaving at the end of the season. Because this special premier class backdrop seemed to inspire Bayern, who had been struggling recently. The Tuchel team showed their best performance in weeks, controlled the ball and opponents and quickly made up for the loss from the first leg with a serious performance.

Against the ultra-defensive Italians, who have their problems as eighth in the Serie A, the Munich team acted patiently, waited for their opportunities and then struck coldly. Of course, it was Kane who broke the knot with his header and finally dashed the Romans’ hopes in the second half. Who else? The English national team captain scored his fifth and sixth goals in this premier class season. Overall, it was his 33rd goal in his 33rd competitive game.

But Pavlovic also played an important role. It wasn’t just the opening goal that the 19-year-old provided the initial spark with his opening pass to Müller. Pavlovic was very present in midfield and has been one of the big winners so far in this underwhelming second half of the season. Instead, Joshua Kimmich played again on the right side of defense directly behind Leroy Sané, who returned to the team after his absence in Freiburg.

Sané also fired the first shot on goal, but his attempt (6th) was too unplaced, as was Jamal Musiala’s shot (14th). Things became more dangerous with a deflected shot from Kane (17th). When a bit of idleness threatened to enter Bayern’s game, it was Tuchel on the sidelines who kept encouraging his team. “Nobody needs to worry about my ambition. It’s at its limit,” said the coach. Tuchel, who sensationally led Chelsea to Champions League victory in 2021, would be only too happy to say goodbye to Munich in the summer with another major title.

Manuel Neuer had little to do

But the staid Lazio was not the big indicator of this. And yet Bayern had to survive a shocking moment in the first half. When Matthijs de Ligt involuntarily extended a cross, Ciro Immobile appeared free in front of the largely unemployed Manuel Neuer, but put the ball next to the goal. On the other side, it was also de Ligt who scored the second goal with his volley, when Müller headed the ball home. For the national player it was the 54th goal in his 149th Champions League game and the first since October 2022.

The double strike before the break changed the statics of the game. The Romans had to break down their destructive style of play a little, which opened up space and opportunities for Bayern. Musiala (54th) and Raphael Guerreiro (59th) missed the preliminary decision. Kane then took care of that, converting the rebound after a shot from Sané. Müller could have even increased the score with a shot off the post (71′).

mkb
DPA