MUNICH-. Wounded in Germany, but alive and threatening in Europe. He Bayern Munich won 3-0 in their stadium Lazioovercoming the 1-0 loss in the first leg, to advance this Tuesday to the quarterfinals of the Champions Leaguewith goals from the illustrious Harry Kane y Thomas Müller.
After an ineffective initial siege, Kane broke the deadlock in the 39th minute, Muller scored the second just before the break (45+2) and the captain of the English team completed his double in the 66th minute.
Derailed in the fight for its 12th consecutive Bundesliga – 10 points behind Leverkusen with ten games remaining – and eliminated from the Cup, Bayern only has one European feat left to save the season.
The outlook is so gloomy that his coach Thomas Tuchel saw his contract cut, initially until 2025 and which will finally end at the end of this year.
But against the wall and with a goal to come back, the Bavarian giant drew strength from weakness to cling to the luxurious lifeline that is the highest club competition.
In 40 appearances he only lost six times before the quarterfinals, winning it six times. And once again he is in the European ‘Top-8’. No one will want to come across a wounded beast now.
Muller’s sacred head for Bayern Munich
Mark and if possible the sooner the better. Bayern’s plan was evident but its overwhelming staging lacked effectiveness. In 25 minutes he had ten shots, with Jamal Musiala shooting with power but too focused (14) and Kane scrambling on the edge before grazing one of the posts (17).
The England captain, who landed in Bavaria this year to finally open his showcase of titles after a life at Tottenham, seemed to be betting safely, but national failures push him to all or nothing in the Champions League.
With this Tuesday’s victory, there are five games left to lift it. Once again, he paved the way, bending his body and finishing with a header into the net after a drop shot also with the head of Muller and a semi-miss center from Raphael Guerreiro.
Completely at the mercy of Bayern, just before Lazio almost found themselves with a miraculous goal when their captain Ciro Immobile was left alone after a backcomb from center back Matthijs de Ligt.
The Dutchman made up for his mistake in a big way. In the stoppage of the first half he hit a spectacular volley that Muller was in charge of correcting to goal with his productive header.
With the job done and against an inferior rival – Lazio is ninth in the Italian championship – Bayern had only to manage their advantage in the second half.
Kane avoided any attempt at intrigue by signing his double, attentive to a rebound from goalkeeper Ivan Provedel after a shot from Leroy Sané. It was his sixth goal in eight Champions League games -27 in 24 Bundesliga games.
PSG also advances to the quarterfinals
Paris Saint-Germain advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League this Tuesday by beating Real Sociedad 2-1, boosted by a double from Kylian Mbappé in the second leg of the continental tournament.
Mbappé’s goals (15, 56) certified PSG’s passage to the next round, which had already won 2-0 in the first leg in Paris, while Mikel Merino scored the goal of local honor (89).
Source: AFP
