FC Bayern Munich has taken a giant step towards the round of 16 of the Champions League. After a goal against the strong Munich defense, the German record champions turned the game around before the break and ultimately won clearly against Shakhtar Donetsk 5:1 (2:1). Because of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the game was played as Donetsk’s home game in the Schalke Arena.
“We didn’t start well, but we just kept going. This way everyone can have some fun”said the once again strong Musiala. With a view to the rest of the season in the Champions League, the national player said on Amazon Prime. “The final is every one of us’s dream. But we can’t look too far ahead, we just have to improve from game to game.”
The Bayern fans rubbed their eyes when Donetsk took the lead in the 5th minute with a “typical” Bayern goal: the Ukrainians played forward in a straightforward manner against Bayern who had advanced. After winning the ball in midfield, it took exactly one pass to outplay the defense. The one-man central defense Min-jae Kim saw the free space and waved his arms wildly, but that didn’t stop Zubkov from serving the Brazilian Kevin, who stormed towards the goal and Neuer representative Daniel Peretz failed with a well-placed low shot opportunity left. Manuel Neuer will not be able to play until the end of the year due to a broken rib.
But Bayern only needed six minutes to repair the gap. Leon Goretzka, who was involved in the goal, put a lot of effort into the ball in midfield. The pass to Michael Olise was initially intercepted, but Konrad Laimer followed up vehemently. Olise made sure he didn’t block the shooting path and Laimer gratefully accepted the space by driving the ball under the crossbar from seven meters (11th).
Bayern initially without luck, but with a lot of “duel”
Munich, plagued by serious injury concerns, subsequently acted more confidently and determinedly, but Jamal Musiala in particular was unable to bring his great technical skills to the freshly laid pitch. Leroy Sané also tried hard, but was unsuccessful for the time being. And then Bayern had their famous “dream” when Laimer lost the ball in the opponent’s penalty area and Donetsk with Kevin and Georgiy Sudakov stormed towards Peretz – but Sudakov pushed the ball next to the goal (44th).
Just seconds later, all of Munich’s attackers, who had previously had “no luck” on several occasions, did better: Sané splashed into a pass from the Ukrainians, Musiala grabbed the ball and ran to the edge of the penalty area, where he drew three opposing players towards him. But instead of finishing blindly, Musiala saw Thomas Müller standing completely free in the center of the attack, who then fell to give Bayern the lead. Up to this point, Munich had gained 70% possession of the ball, and Shakhtar was not once in the Bayern penalty area between the 13th and 44th minutes.
Donetsk more offensive after the break
Donetsk coach Marino Pušić made two personnel changes in the second half and almost equalized by bringing in Lassina Traoré: Bayern failed to clear a corner from the Ukrainians, Traoré got into a nice shooting position, but Leon Goretzka ripped in his old sporting home Schalke raised his head and directed the ball to another corner.
Things got turbulent in the middle of the second half of the game. First, a seemingly regular goal from Munich by Jamal Musiala was not recognized for some unknown reason, then the referee Halil Meler decided on a penalty: Sacha Boey, who had just been substituted, was unfairly hit just behind the edge of the penalty area, and Olise converted the justified penalty (70th). Defining for the injured regular penalty taker Harry Kane.
Musiala frustrated and with a strange goal
Donetsk once again offered everything they could in terms of personnel in the final phase and struggled to score a goal – but the Munich team safely brought home the victory, also because Peretz kept his box clean in the second half of the game.
In the final phase, Bayern scored a strange goal: Musiala was tackled hard in the penalty area and fell to the ground. When the penalty whistle didn’t blow, Musiala sat on the ground out of frustration. But then a new situation developed, Olise served the German star player, who got into a good shooting position with a body feint and executed safely. Olise finished with a wonderful solo (90th + 3).
Bayern are now in eighth place
The victory lifted Munich to eighth place in the Champions League table, the last place that means direct qualification for the round of 16. Donetsk slipped out of the playoff ranks. On January 22nd, Donetsk will host Stade Brest (again at Schalke), while Bayern will be guests at Feyenoord Rotterdam.