Bayern Munich 3-1 Chelsea: Blues collapsed as Kane shone in Munich | OneFootball

Chelsea began their Champions League campaign with a defeat to Bayern Munich after an error-filled performance led to a brace from Harry Kane.

A Trevoh Chalobah own-goal, accompanied by a converted penalty in the opening half-hour, sealed Enzo Maresca’s side’s fate as Bayern Munich and Kane were too good for the London club.

It’s a game Chelsea needs to learn from if they are to make an impact in this season’s Champions League. Their performance was much better than the scoreline suggested, but three defensive mistakes proved costly as they traverse through some tough fixtures in this Champions League group.

Next up for them is the return of Jose Mourinho to Stamford Bridge, with the Portuguese manager being announced as the new Benfica manager this week. Bayern Munich will face Cypriot side Pafos.

As it happened

In their first Champions League outing since 2023, Chelsea started well with chances from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez going wide of Manuel Neuer’s goal. A very inexperienced Chelsea side looked to be on the front foot, and a goal seemed inevitable. This was before a much more streetwise Bayern Munich took the lead through the first of many Chelsea defensive errors.

From a Bayern set-piece routine, a low cross from Michael Olise led to Trevor Chalobah turning the ball into his own net. It was a tough blow for the Blues, who had just begun to edge their German hosts.

Not long after, Chelsea gifted Bayern another goal after a simply brainless tackle by midfielder Moises Caicedo on English forward Harry Kane led to a Bayern penalty. Consistent as ever, Kane expertly dispatched the spot kick, his sixth goal this season in all competitions, to give the Bavarians a two-goal advantage.

It was an all-English battle in the first half as Chelsea forward Cole Palmer capped off a wonderful counterattack with a top corner effort to put the Blues back in contention. Palmer, who was playing in his 100th Chelsea appearance, later had a goal disallowed for offside.

After the restart, Chelsea’s defensive naivety was tested time and time again. Olise and Kane both missed chances while Chelsea failed to test the Bayern keeper. It was somewhat telling that Neuer had more Champions League appearances than the entire Chelsea squad combined.

Chelsea’s inexperience was punished in the 63rd minute when Harry Kane capitalised on yet another defensive mistake, this time it was Malo Gusto. His wayward pass led the Englishman to curl his effort into the bottom corner.

Ultimately, Chelsea’s performance wasn’t bad, and Enzo Maresca will be disappointed that his side was undone by three errors of their own making.

Striker Nicolas Jackson came on too late to make a statement against his parent club, and the introduction of Alejandro Garnacho failed to change things for the Blues.

The lineups

BAY: Neuer; Laimer, Upamecano, Tah, Stanisic; Kimmich, Pavlovic; Olise, Gnabry, Diaz; Kane

CHE: Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Adarabioyo, Cucurella; James, Caicedo; Palmer, Fernandez, Pedro Neto; Joao Pedro