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Champions League: Bayern Munich-Sporting, 3-1 (report)

By Peter Benard

“Our Champions League is the championship .” The phrase is from Pedro Gonçalves, later repeated by Rui Borges and reinforced this Tuesday with the Lions’ defeat in Munich (1-3). The truth is that Sporting, with an alternative team, offered a good response to the Bavarians, kept the score at 0-0 until halftime and was even the first to celebrate a goal at the Allianz Arena. Then came the reaction of the Bayer machine, with three goals in twelve minutes. 

A very different Sporting team than usual, despite Rui Borges making only four changes compared to the derby against Benfica, most notably the return of the five-man defensive line, with Eduardo Quaresma and Matheus Reis joining Dimomande in the center of defense. Given the absences of Pote, Trincão, and Quenda in support of Luis Suárez, the Sporting coach opted for a 3-4-3 formation, with Geny Catamo and Alisson positioned wide on the wings in direct support of Luis Suárez.

Bayern also took to the field with a significant absence; in addition to Musiala, recovering from injury, Luis Díaz, in great form, was also serving a one-match suspension. Even so, Vincent Kompany rebuilt the Bavarian machine, with traction up front, with Olise and Gnaby on the wings and the young 17-year-old Karl behind Harry Kane.

Bayern started the game early, taking control with high possession and constant attacks down the flanks, with Olise, supported by Laimer, and Gnabry, supported by Stanisic, causing the Lions many problems. Sporting tried to play out from the back with three players, almost always down Maxi Araújo’s side, who was immediately pressured by Laimer and Kimmich.

The pressure seemed unbearable, with the German team scoring in the 5th minute through a shot by the young prodigy Lennart Karl, but it was disallowed for offside due to an elbow from Gnabry. It didn’t count, but by this point, the superiority of the German team was more than evident, with four shots compared to none from Sporting.

A clear superiority, but the following minutes also showed increasing defensive consistency from the Lions who, little by little, even began to play out from the back, not through Maxi, but through Geny Catamo. In one of these plays, one of Rui Borges’ team’s best opportunities in the first half arose, with a run by the Mozambican culminating in a cross looking for Luis Suárez. Jonathan Tah anticipated the Colombian, but almost betrayed Neuer who had to make a good save to prevent the first goal.

But it was definitely Bayern who were in control of the game and, until halftime, the Germans were again very close to scoring, first with a shot from Kane that hit the post, then with another shot from Karl that forced a great save from Rui Silva. The truth is that this was the first time that Bayern had gone into halftime scoreless in a home game.

Sporting scores first, Bayern responds strongly.

The second half began again with Bayern dominating, but Sporting seemed more relaxed, managing to play out from the back with relative ease, notably with a cross-shot from Alisson after Geny Catamo recovered the ball. Shortly after, Sporting scored. João Simões, with space, broke down the left, beat Tah with a change of pace and delivered a dangerous cross looking for Luis Suárez. Kimmich, attempting to anticipate, ended up deflecting the ball into his own net.

Incredible! Sporting were winning in Munich and, with this result, they virtually jumped to second place in the standings.

Bayern reacted strongly, extending the pressure across the entire width of the field, but Sporting were actually responding well when, in the 65th minute, they equalized from a set piece. It was a corner kick from the right, taken by Olise, with Gnabry appearing unmarked at the far post to tap it in.

Ball in the center, four more minutes, another goal, this time with Karl appearing unmarked, with a good reception in the area and beating Rui Silva for the second time. In two stages, the Germans turned the result around. Even before the restart, a scuffle between captains Hjulmand and Kimmich resulted in a yellow card for each side, which leaves the Dane out of the next game, in this case, at home against PSG.

Then the dancing began in the stands, with the Germans celebrating young Karl’s performance with a standing ovation, before Bayern scored their third goal, again from a corner on the right, with Gnabry crossing from the opposite side for Tah to finish.

It was decided. There were still about fifteen minutes left and Sporting even had another good opportunity to score, with Luis Suárez shooting after a good pass from Vagiannidis, but Bayern, at this point, were already in control mode.

Bayern thus reach fifteen points, while Sporting remain with ten.

Game figure: Lennart Karl

A great performance from the 17-year-old who is thrilling Bayern fans. He scored early in the game, in the 5th minute, in a move that was eventually disallowed for offside by Gnabry [due to an elbow], but he came very close to scoring again at the end of the first half, with a shot that forced a great save from Rui Silva. He ended up scoring the winning goal, taking an opponent out of the way before beating Rui Silva from a tight angle. He was substituted before the end of the game to receive a standing ovation from the German fans.

Moment of the game: Kimmich’s own goal

Sporting had already imposed an unprecedented goalless draw on the Bavarian team, which, until this Tuesday, had scored at least one goal in the first half in every home game. The surprise was even greater when, right at the start of the second half, Sporting took the lead first. A move in which João Simões plays down the left, gets past Tah with a change of pace and crosses the ball into the net for Luis Suárez. Kimmich anticipated the Colombian, but ended up deflecting the ball into Neuer’s net.

Positive: João Simões has personality.

A great game from the 18-year-old Sporting player in a very difficult environment against a team that is a real goal-scoring machine. Always very calm, João Simões sought to close down spaces, offer passing options and, whenever possible, started the play, as happened in Sporting’s solitary goal. At the end of the game, he swapped shirts with Lennart Karl, from star player to star player.

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