Champions League: Villarreal defeats FC Bayern – Chelsea are defeated by Real Madrid

Danjuma with goal of the evening

In the small cauldron of Villarreal, a completely indisposed FC Bayern made a big Champions League breakdown. At 0: 1 (0: 1) on Wednesday evening, the German champions still had a lot of dizziness, otherwise the dream semi-final against Jürgen Klopps FC Liverpool, who had solved his mandatory task at Benfica Lisbon 3: 1 the day before, would still be in more distant.

In the second leg next Tuesday, the Munich team, who are also offensively unimaginative this time, have to play to their home strengths again against the Spanish Europa League winners to avoid the threatening knockout in the quarter-finals. yet to be averted. Dutchman Arnaut Danjuma got the 23,500 spectators euphoric with his goal in the eighth minute. Bayern were very lucky that a very crooked goal by Francis Coquelin was disallowed for offside after video evidence (41′).

After the break, Gerard Moreno shot the post (53′). For the first time in four and a half years, Bayern, who were stumbling at times, lost an away game in the Champions League – and like the 0: 3 at Paris Saint-Germain in September 2017, the opposing coach was called Unai Emery again.

“These are the weeks that all our players look forward to. Now it’s about winning the titles. Now every game is an endgame. We are working all year towards having such a situation,” said Bavaria’s CEO Oliver Kahn on the “DAZN” streaming service, expressing his anticipation of the hot weeks. The fun factor in the narrow Estadio de la Ceramica was only great for the hosts, because the underdog from Villarreal proved to be an unpleasant opponent. Compact with two back fours and technically well equipped on the offensive, the Spaniards, who played all in yellow, presented FC Bayern with considerable problems.

Especially after the early opening goal, which Jamal Musiala, who had recently been brilliant in the national team, initiated with a mistake. Giovani Lo Celso passed the ball to Daniel Parejo, whose attempted shot put Danjuma ahead with his sixth ‘premier class’ goal of the season. Musiala had replaced Leon Goretzka in the starting eleven, who had just made his comeback in the 4-1 win in Freiburg.

Full-back Alphonso Davies, who made his comeback after a protracted myocarditis as a result of corona disease, was also allowed to play right from the start and was used for the first time this year. The Canadian acted within the scope of his possibilities and prevented the second goal conceded in the second half with a strong defensive action (57th).

As in the round of 16 first leg at RB Salzburg (1-1), Bayern didn’t get going at all in the first half – neither on the outside nor in the centre. It lacked precision, speed and moments of surprise. The Bundesliga leaders, who had scored 30 goals in their first eight Champions League games, didn’t get a dangerous shot in the first 45 minutes.

The fact that Thomas Müller, Robert Lewandowski and Joshua Kimmich had a lively discussion during an interruption showed the dissatisfaction on the part of the German champions. And it almost got worse for the Nagelsmann team. An unfortunate cross from Coquelin sank into the Bayern goal shortly before the break (41st). But the video referee had seen the Frenchman offside.

The annoyance was written all over Nagelsmann’s face. And that didn’t change in the second round either. Bayern were very lucky again when Moreno hit the post (53′). And then even Neuer made a mistake. The keeper played the ball into Moreno’s feet in the center circle, but the Spaniard just missed the empty goal with a 50-yard shot (62′).

Nagelsmann had already reacted and exchanged the ineffective Thomas Müller and Serge Gnabry for Goretzka and Leroy Sané. Bayern now put more pressure on, but also revealed huge gaps in the defensive. Sometimes things went wild in the Bayern penalty area. Goalscorer Danjuma missed another big chance.

Chelsea before the end: Real Madrid and Benzema too strong

The outstanding Karim Benzema paved the way for Real Madrid to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League. The French international scored all three goals in the 3-1 (2-1) victory of the Spanish record champions in the first leg of the quarter-finals at defending champions Chelsea. He headed in the 21st and 24th minutes on Wednesday evening. Seconds into the second half, he capitalized on a glaring error by Chelsea goalkeeper Édouard Mendy, who stumbled the ball.

The Londoners only managed to score the interim goal through Kai Havertz (40th). After the first home defeat of the Champions League season, it will be difficult for coach Thomas Tuchel’s team in the second leg next Tuesday (9:00 p.m.) in Madrid to prevent the premature end in the “premier class”.

Chelsea suffered a setback in the Premier League at the weekend, losing 4-1 to newly promoted FC Brentford. Until then, the team around national defender Antonio Rüdiger and Havertz had been stable despite the turmoil after the departure of former Russian owner Roman Abramowitsch. The Londoners also seemed unsettled against Real, as they did against Brentford on Saturday. Although they tried to build up pressure against the guests. But they didn’t emit danger. Of 19 attempts, only five went on goal.

Real played clarified. The cover was perfectly organized by ex-Bayer David Alaba, who played his 100th game in the Champions League, ex-world champion Toni Kroos pulled the strings in midfield, Benzema showed his solo show in attack. The 34-year-old had already scored all three goals in the 3-1 win in the round of 16 second leg against Paris Saint-Germain. Now the next three-pack followed.

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