Bayern Munich beat Barcelona to spoil Robert Lewandowski's return

Posted Wednesday, September 14, 2022 by ESPN

Bayern Munich beat Barcelona to spoil Robert Lewandowski's return
Lucas Hernandez of Bayern Munich celebrates after scoring against Barcelona in the Champions League. Getty Images

Bayern Munich beat Barcelona 2-0 in their Champions League Group C match at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night.

Second-half goals from Lucas Hernandez and Leroy Sane extended Barcelona's rough run of results in Munich. The Blaugrana have now failed to win in their last seven visits to Bavaria, recording two draws and five defeats and being outscored by an aggregate total of 16-4.

For Bayern, the win could not have come at a better time, following three consecutive draws in the Bundesliga.

"Barca had the better chances in the first half. We had to rely on [keeper] Manuel [Neuer]," Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann said. "After the break we were more aggressive. We quickly scored two goals. We basically won because of higher efficiency.

"From our side I am also happy Lewandowski did not score against us tonight."

Robert Lewandowski, making his return to Bavaria after a summer move to the Camp Nou, fired the best chance of the first half over the crossbar in the 18th minute after being played in from a clever pass by Gavi.

The Poland striker missed two more legitimate chances as the first half played out -- while Bayern rarely threatened Marc-Andre ter Stegen's goal -- and the teams went into the dressing room level at 0-0.

The hosts, who had keeper Manuel Neuer to thank for keeping them in the game, scored five minutes after the restart with defender Hernandez's header from a Joshua Kimmich corner.

Before Barcelona had time to regroup, Bayern struck again when Jamal Musiala flicked a perfect pass for Sane and the Germany international slipped the ball past keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Pedri hit the post in the 63rd minute as Barca tried to bounce back but the Germans comfortably held on for the three points. They next host Czech side Plzen on Oct. 4.

Xavi Hernandez's side, still in second place in the group, now face a crunch pair of back-to-back matches against Internazionale, who are third, that could go a long way to determining which team will advance to the knockout round.

"We made six or seven big goal chances but missed them and Bayern took their opportunity," Xavi said after the match. "We competed, we played very well and had we scored it would have been a completely different match.

"This is the Champions League though, you need to compete and you try to avoid the marking error at the corner which let them go 1-0 up."

Bayern sit atop the group on six points from their first two matches after beating Inter 2-0 on Wednesday in Milan.

Prior to the match, supporters at the Allianz held up banners in protest of match delays in the Champions League due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.