2024-02-14 22:09:09
Published on: 02/14/2024 – 11:09 p.m. Modified on: 02/14/2024 – 11:20 p.m.
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Relegated to five points behind Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, eliminated from the German Cup, Bayern may already only have the Champions League to save its season and the head of its coach, Thomas Tuchel.
And halfway through its confrontation with Lazio, the Bavarian giant, reduced to ten men following the exclusion of Dayot Upamecano in the 67th minute, did not reassure its supporters, far from it.
“We should have taken the lead in the first half, we created two or three clear chances, there was a reaction on our part (following the defeat once morest Leverkusen), but following the break, we lost our control once more. insurance”, summed up German international Thomas Müller.
Three years following their only confrontation at this same stage of the premier competition of European football, Bayern will not keep good memories of their Roman escapade.
In March 2021, the Bavarians left Rome with their ticket to the quarter-finals almost in their pocket thanks to their 4-1 demonstration at the Olympic Stadium.
They will have to overthrow a Lazio, certainly limited but eye-catching, in front of their public on March 5 to win the precious sesame and avoid sinking into one of these serious crises which punctuate its long history.
With the return of Müller among the starters and the omnipresent Leroy Sané on the right flank, Tuchel believed he had found the solution.
Penalty d’Immobile
But if his team monopolized the ball, it did not always know what to do with it, like this “pass to ten”, in the 21st minute, launched by Upamecano and easily stopped by Luis Alberto.
Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano was sent off following a foul on Gustav Isaksen in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League on Wednesday © Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP
It was not until the 31st minute that the Bavarians created their first opportunity.
On a free kick at the edge of the area, Harry Kane pretended to strike and Sané narrowly missed the target to the great relief of the beaten Ivan Provedel.
In the 40th minute, it was a combination between Müller and Kane which set Jamal Musiala apart, but the young German international took his shot too far.
Lazio, discreet until then apart from a long shot from Luis Alberto well above the German crossbar (21st), started the second half on foot thanks to Gustav Isaksen.
The Danish striker slipped between two Bavarian defenders and appeared alone in front of Manuel Neuer, but he was slow to shoot and allowed the Bavarian captain to win their duel.
The Italian vice-champions, more incisive, began to find space in an increasingly feverish Bavarian rearguard.
On a raid by Felipe Anderson, Ciro Immobile resisted four defenders in the area and found Isaksen, cut down by Upamecano.
Exclusion and penalty, immediately judged the French referee of the match, François Letexier.
Four days following scoring his 200th goal in Serie A, Immobile wrong-footed Neuer (69th) and sent the 60,000 spectators at the Stadio Olimpico to heaven.
They might have left home with a clearer advantage and believed even more in a second participation in the quarter-finals of the C1, following 2000, if Pedro in added time (90+2), stood out in the area, had not not shot at Neuer.
“We prepared well for this match, I was convinced that we were going to give everything and that we might do something big,” assured Immobile, who was even choosy following this surprise victory.
“We might have scored one or two more goals, we will have to be more realistic on the way back,” he concluded.
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