Bayern Munich hosted Tottenham Hotspur at the Allianz Arena in the last Group Stage match of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. The German Champions were undefeated throughout the group stage and wanted to maintain their perfect record, while Spurs wanted payback for their 7-2 defeat in the reverse fixture.
The match started in favor of the Bavarians, with Bayern creating a few chances before drawing first blood in the 14th minute when Serge Gnabry’s pass was deflected in the path of Kingsley Coman who dispatched the ball calmly into the back of the net to give the home side the lead.
Spurs came right back in the game when in the 20th minute, Giovani Lo Celso’s pass was heavily deflected off Jerome Boateng, and fell to Ryan Sessengon, who fired a shot past Manuel Neuer to equalize the scoreline.
Bayern were the more dominant side in the first half, and got rewarded on the brink of half time when Gnabry’s low cross fell to Alphonso Davies, whose shot rattled the post and ricocheted out to Thomas Muller, who steered the ball into an empty net to give Bayern a 2-1 lead at half time.
Bayern continued their dominance in the second half forcing a few good saves from Paulo Gazzaniga. And in the 64th minute, Philippe Coutinho cut inside from the left, went past Moussa Sissoko before curling a spectacular effort from the edge of the box into the bottom right corner of the net to double the advantage for the Bavarians.
Both sides created chances in the latter part of the second half, but none of them were converted as Bayern defeated Spurs 3-1 in the final UCL group stage match. This gave Bayern 6 wins out of their 6 games and ensured top position in the group for them. Spurs, on the other hand finish second in their group, and are in for a tricky tie in the Round of 16.
And before that, Spurs have another tough game this Sunday against 6th placed Wolves at the Molineux.
Player Ratings:
Bayern Munich:
Manuel Neuer- 7
Benjamin Pavard- 7
Jerome Boateng- 6
Javier Martinez- 7
Alphonso Davies- 8
Joshua Kimmich- 8
Serge Gnabry- 8
Thiago Alcantara- 7
Philippe Coutinho- 9
Kingsley Coman- 8
Ivan Perisic- 7
Subs:
Thomas Muller- 8
Joshua Zirkzee- N/A
Leon Goretzka- N/A
Spurs:
Paulo Gazzaniga- 5
Danny Rose- 6
Toby Alderweireld- 6
Juan Foyth- 6
Kyle Walker-Pieters- 5
Moussa Sissoko- 5
Eric Dier- 5
Ryan Sessengon- 7
Christian Eriksen- 6
Giovani Lo Celso- 6
Lucas Moura- 5
Subs:
Heung-Min Son- 6
Oliver Skipp- 6
Victor Wanyama- N/A
