A familiar face ruins Chelsea's Champions League return

-

Bayern Munich 3 - 1 Chelsea

Harry Kane took full advantage of Chelsea’s defensive frailties to score twice for Bayern Munich.

Author | Lewis W

Stadium | Allianz Arena

Super News Football | Champions League | Bayern Munich v Chelsea - Champions League | Bayern Munich v Chelsea

The England captain, now 32, opened the scoring from the penalty spot after being fouled by Moisés Caicedo and later sealed the win with a curling finish after Malo Gusto’s misplaced pass.

Chelsea had already gifted Bayern a lead when Trevoh Chalobah diverted the ball into his own net. A returning Cole Palmer offered brief hope with a superb strike into the top corner on his 100th appearance for the club, but the revival never truly gathered momentum.

READ MORE | Virgil van Dijk the hero as Liverpool leave it late again

READ MORE | Arsenal start Champions League campaign with a win

There were warnings in the second half, with Michael Olise spurning a chance and Kane also misfiring when Chelsea were pushing for an equaliser. Any lingering optimism was extinguished when Kane punished Gusto’s mistake in the 63rd minute.

It summed up a night of poor decision-making from the visitors. Chelsea switched off at a drop-ball situation before Chalobah’s own goal and Caicedo’s foul on Kane led to the penalty. Early opportunities for Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernández went begging, while Palmer saw a late effort ruled out for a marginal offside.

Bayern’s greater nous at the highest level told. They have now won their opening group fixture for 22 consecutive seasons. Manuel Neuer, at 39, was playing his 151st Champions League match. Chelsea’s 24-man squad combined had just 117 appearances between them before kick-off.

Former Blues striker Nicolas Jackson, who joined Bayern on loan on deadline day, was given a brief run-out in added time with no real opportunity to trouble his parent club.

Chelsea’s next assignment is at home to Benfica, a fixture that could mark the return of José Mourinho to Stamford Bridge should the Portuguese be confirmed as the Lisbon club’s new manager this week.

Location: Franz-Beckenbauer-Platz 5, 80939 München, Germany

Popular posts from this blog

Arsenal start Champions League campaign with a win

-
Image
Athletic Club 0 - 2 Arsenal Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard came off the bench to deliver the goals as Arsenal opened their Champions League campaign with victory over Athletic Club. Author | DJ Stadium | San Mames Martinelli needed just 36 seconds to make his mark, racing through to score after being set up by Trossard midway through the second half. The Brazilian then turned provider, beating his man before laying the ball back for Trossard to tuck in a second with four minutes to play. It was far from straightforward for Mikel Arteta’s side. Athletic, returning to the competition for the first time since 2014-15, flew out of the blocks backed by a raucous San Mamés crowd. Alejandro Berenguer was a persistent threat and the hosts had Arsenal penned in for long spells of the first half. The Gunners did create the clearest chance before the interval, Viktor Gyökeres heading wide from close range, but overall struggled to assert themselves. Gyökeres later finished the match...
Read more

Braga stun Celtic after VAR controversy

-
Image
Celtic 2 - 0 Braga Celtic suffered further European disappointment as goals in each half and a controversial disallowed equaliser earned Braga victory in what was a chaotic encounter. Author |  Sean M Stadium |  Celtic Park Kick-off Kasper Schmeichel had an error-strewn game in goal and failed to keep out Ricardo Horta 's early long-range effort, which stunned the Celtic Park crowd into silence. The Dane then did well to keep out a late shot but was helpless when the ball bounced off Gabri Martinez in a botched clearance and rebounded into the net to seal all the points. After their Champions League qualification failure against Kairat Almaty , and an opening Europa League draw with Red Star Belgrade , this continued Celtic's disappointing start to their European campaign. In fact, so sharp has been the drop-off since last season, that Brendan Rodgers ' side may struggle to qualify for the latter stages of the Europa League unless they can find their way again, and q...
Read more

Atletico hit five to stun Real in historic derby win

-
Image
Atletico Madrid 5 - 2 Real Madrid Simeone’s side end Real’s perfect start with biggest derby haul since 1950 Author | Jack L Stadium | Metropolitano Stadium Fantastic atmosphere in Madrid Atletico Madrid scored five goals against city rivals Real for the first time in almost 75 years as they came from behind to claim a pulsating derby victory. It was only the fourth time Atletico had scored at least five in a Madrid derby, the last occasion being a 6-3 triumph in November 1950. Real, who had begun the season with six straight La Liga wins and opened their Champions League campaign by beating Marseille, fell to their first defeat of the campaign. The five conceded equalled their heaviest league loss since a 5-1 reverse to Barcelona in October 2018. Different pictures from the stands Diego Simeone ’s side struck first when Robin le Normand headed them in front, but goals from Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler turned the game in Real’s favour. Alexander Sorloth equalised in first-half stopp...
Read more