Bayern Ease Past Underwhelming Chelsea | OneFootball

Bayern Munich 4 Chelsea 1Allianz Arena, München, Germany

For Chelsea the Allianz Arena holds brilliant memories. It is, after all, the site of their historic first Champions League win – against Bayern Munich. They triumphed 1-0 over the German giants here in the 2012 final. Tonight might not be so fondly remembered….

Before this game, the Blues had only played at the Allianz once since 2012. It was in the 2019/20 quarter-final, and they lost 4-1. That game was the second leg of a tie that ended 7-1 on aggregate to Bayern.

The Bavarians went some way towards extracting revenge for the loss in the final during those two games in 2020.

They went some way further tonight, with a dominant 3-1 win.

Inauspicious Beginning

It was a chaotic game, and the damage to Chelsea was done in the first half. Enzo Maresca’s side started well, but completely unraveled in the space of seven mad minutes.

Michael Olise was brilliant all night, and was the catalyst for Bayern. He terrorized the Chelsea backline to no end, and it was no surprise in the 20th minute when he drove down the right byline, easily skipped past João Pedro and delivered a cross into the middle of the box which Trevoh Chalobah inadvertently sent into his own net.

Chelsea were sloppy in defense and didn’t smell the danger. It was inexcusable for Chalobah not to be ready to anticipate the cross, and similarly so for Tosin Adarabioyo to not even attempt to clear said cross.

Things went from bad to worse only five minute later when the visitors gave away a penalty. The usually ever-reliable Moises Caicedo was caught the wrong side of Harry Kane and made a challenge that gave referee José Sanchez no choice but to award a penalty.

Kane duly put away the spot kick, and it seemed that in the 27th minute it was game over.

FC Palmer to the Rescue

But the man who has bailed Chelsea out of so many difficult situations did so again. Almost straight from the Blues’ kick off, Bayern regained the ball and went on the offensive. Reece James won it back and fed Caicedo, who set away Cole Palmer.

Bayern had most of their team forward and Palmer had the entirety of the opposing half to run into. He bore down on Manuel Neuer’s box before playing a one-two with Malo Gusto on the right and then smashing emphatically into the top-left corner of the goal.

It was Palmer’s first Champions League game, and he made his mark. On a night when many Chelsea players disappointed, he stood up.

Chelsea in Change

This was Chelsea’s first game back in Europe’s premier competition since the 2022/23 season. They have undergone a lot of change since then, and even more so since these two sides last met in 2020.

The only players in the starting XI’s for this meeting who also began the second-leg in 2020 were Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry and Reece James.

Willy Caballero started in goal for Chelsea that day, and is now Enzo Maresca’s assistant.

Despite all the change for Chelsea since that game five years ago, the scoreline and performance felt all too similar.

Bayern Impose Their Will

The second half was all Bayern. Vincent Kompany’s side asserted their dominance and looked like the only team who would score again.

And they did when Gusto made a real meal of a simple pass from Chalobah in the 63rd minute. He took a loose touch before compounding the error by sliding in and sending the ball backwards, straight into the path of Kane who was inside Chelsea’s penalty area.

The English forward didn’t even take a touch to control it, just waiting for the ball to settle before calmly slotting past Robert Sanchez to make it 3-1.

The scoreline could have been much worse too, had it not been for the Spanish keeper. He made a solid save from Kane just before the Englishman did score his second of the night, but made a truly remarkable save from Olise also just before Bayern’s third.

Olise had drafted unmarked into the middle of the box, was fed the ball, and directed his shot low and on target. Sanchez, who is all of 6’6″, somehow managed to get down and scoop it away with his right hand.

A Bright But Brief Spark

The night almost ended somewhat positively for Chelsea when they thought they had pulled one back via Palmer, five minutes before full-time.

Estévão – who continues to impress – floated a ball over the Bayern backline and into the path of Palmer who deftly poked past Neuer.

He was eventually ruled to be offside, but in honesty 3-2 would have flattered the English side. Bayern were a class above and the scoreline reflected that.

Takeaway

This was Enzo Maresca and most of the Chelsea squad’s first ever Champions League game. Like any team in a new high-level competition, it takes some getting used to.

Bayern are six time winners of the UCL trophy and the Allianz Arena demands success. It was a baptism of fire for Chelsea and they got burned. But they have seven more games in which to recover.