Lazio 1-0 Bayern Munich: Player ratings as Champions League defeat adds to Tuchel pressure
Bayern Munich have work to do if they are to progress to this season’s Champions League quarter-finals after slumping to a 1-0 defeat to Lazio in their last 16 first leg on Wednesday.
Ciro Immobile’s second half penalty proved to be the difference at Stadio Olimpico on an historic night for the Italian side in Europe. Bayern finished the game with ten players after Dayot Upamecano had been dismissed for his foul that conceded the spot-kick.
Thomas Tuchel’s team dominated possession and mustered 17 shots in total over the course of the game, yet failed to get a single one on target, while Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio worked incredibly hard off the ball to limit the impact of Bayern’s array of glittering attacking talent.
Although not a disastrous result in the overall context of this tie, it certainly wasn’t the way that Bayern or an under pressure Tuchel would have wanted to respond to last weekend’s comprehensive 3-0 defeat to Bundesliga title rivals Bayer Leverkusen.
How the game unfolded
Bayern went close a couple of times early on when, first, Joshua Kimmich curled wide from the edge of the box and then Harry Kane scooped over from close range a chance he would have been expected to bury after Thomas Muller’s knockdown. But Lazio were doing well overall to keep the Bavarian giants at arm’s length and otherwise limiting clear sights of goal.
Despite dominating the ball and the tempo of the game, Bayern found the door was repeatedly shut in their face as the first half progressed, with moves either breaking down at the edge of the box or pot shots from distance missing the target altogether.
Lazio were doing a solid containment job, particularly strangling the service to Harry Kane. Bayern chances did still creep in – they just couldn’t take them. Leroy Sane drove a shot inches wide of the post after the ball had been shifted in a clever free-kick routine. Shortly before the interval, a well-worked move found Jamala Musiala in enough space to get a shot off, only for him to sky it.
The hosts had created very little for the opening 45 minutes but almost sucker punched Bayern within a few moments of the restart. Gustav Isaksen found himself through on goal, only for Manuel Neuer to be equal to the resultant near post attempt.
Ex-Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi had been putting Musiala under pressure when he missed in the first half and found himself in a similar position midway through the second as Bayern worked their way into the box – the Frenchman got his foot in at the key moment and won a free-kick.
Failing to break Lazio’s resolute defence, Bayern were only ever a lapse away from disaster and that happened when Upamecano thought he could win the ball from Isaksen as the Danish winger was shooting. Instead, he missed his target and took out the Lazio man’s ankle. The referee not only pointed to the spot, but produced a red card, and Immobile coolly obliged from 12 yards.
With Bayern painfully labouring at one end, Kim Min-jae’s late block could have stopped Lazio from getting out of sight ahead of the second leg. Only the South Korean’s powers of recovery to get his body his in front of Felipe Anderson prevented a second goal rippling Neuer’s net.
Bayern Munich player ratings (4-2-3-1)
Harry Kane was effectively marked out of the game / Giampiero Sposito/GettyImages
GK: Manuel Neuer (c) – 6/10 – Not massively busy but made a crucial save at the start of the second half when Lazio probably should have gone ahead earlier than they did. No chance with the penalty.
RB: Noussair Mazraoui – 7/10 – Looked a decent attacking outlet when others were lacking.
CB: Dayot Upamecano – 3/10 – Looked thr shaky link in the defence even before he gave away the penalty and was sent off for it.
CB: Kim Min-jae – 6/10 – Hardly misplaced a pass all night. Surprisingly not as good in the air.
LB: Raphael Guerreiro – 4/10 – Not forceful in his duels and contributed little going forward.
CM: Joshua Kimmich – 6/10 – Controlled plenty of the ball in midfield but missed the target with an early chance that could have made this a very different game.
CM: Leon Goretzka – 5/10 – Made a chance for Musiala that the winger couldn’t take. Otherwise saw a lot of the ball without doing enough with it to break Lazio apart.
RM: Leroy Sane – 5/10 – Disappointing lack of consistent impact.
AM: Thomas Muller – 7/10 – The best creative spark for Bayern on an otherwise tough night.
LM: Jamal Musiala – 6/10 – Got into good positions in the box several times without ever finding a way past the defenders in front of him. Put the ball over the bar with his best chance.
ST: Harry Kane – 4/10 – It was clear from the start that Lazio were setting up to cut off service.
Substitutes
SUB: Matthijs de Ligt (73′ for Goretzka) – 6/10
SUB: Mathys Tel (81′ for Sane) – /10
SUB: Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (82′ for Muller)
Subs not used: Sven Ulreich (GK), Max Schmitt (GK), Sacha Boey, Eric Dier, Bryan Zargoza, Aleksandar Pavlovic
Manager
Thomas Tuchel – 5/10 – It feels harsh to specifically blame when Bayern did create chances and it was the players who missed the target in those key moments. But a manager also needs to inspire confidence in his team and that is something which was lacking.
Player of the match – Matteo Guendouzi (Lazio)
Source: 90mins
