The defeat in London
Judging by the sign, the confrontation between Chelsea and Bayern should have become one of the central ones at the stage of the 1/8 finals of the Champions League. And not only because of the sonorous names, but also because of the history of the confrontation. So, in the past decade, these teams twice identified the owner of the European trophy and succeeded once. But if the Munich team got the UEFA Super Cup, which has no special value, then the Londoners got the upper hand in the final of the Champions League 2011/12. Then the teams for two set a record of the tournament's decisive matches in terms of the number of shots on goal (44), and the triumph was revealed only in the penalty shootout.
This time, the favorites were the players of the German team. In the last ten meetings, the wards of Hans-Dieter Flick won eight victories and returned to first place in the Bundesliga standings, while their counterparts were not so convincing. They won five games, tied three times and lost to Manchester United and Newcastle. In favor of the guests, there was the absence on the field of the opornik of the London club N'Golo Kante, who received muscle injury, which prompted the Bayern coach to let out a more attacking squad.
From the first minutes, the guests began to justify their status as a favorite. Wards Flick had a double advantage in possession of the ball and much more often created scoring chances. In the first half hour of the game, the Munich team could open an account three times, but neither Kingsley Coman, nor Robert Lewandowski, nor Thomas Muller were able to beat Willy Caballero. At the same time, the German was noted not only by a powerful salvo from afar, but also by an elegant headbut. Forward substituted the back of the head for a throw from the edge, but struck the crossbar.
The last third of the half turned out to be inspiring for the hosts. Frank Lampard wards perked up and seemed to be able to pick up the keys to the opponent. First, they blocked the reactive flanks of Bavaria and left Lewandowski on a starvation ration, and then began to catch the Munich counter-attacks. During one of them, Marcos Alonso had a great chance, but Manuel Neuer saved the partners.
However, at the beginning of the second half, from the 51st to the 54th minute, Chelsea failed twice in defense and allowed Bayern to organize striking attacks. In both cases, Serge Gnabry acted as a scorer and assisted him with Lewandowski. However, Robert did not stop there and in the middle of the half he lit his name on the scoreboard. He converted the goal into a magnificent breakthrough and shot in the performance of Alfonso Davis and scored 13 points on the “goal + pass” system in this Champions League draw. He surpassed the result of forward “Borussia” Erling Holland and came out on top in this indicator.
In the remaining time, the blue tried to seize the initiative, but did not succeed and gave vent to their emotions. If Jorginho received a yellow card in the first half and was disqualified for the return match, then Marcos Alonso secured an unplanned day off a bit later. The Spaniard in a harsh manner stopped the Lewandowski jerk, having twice hit him in the face. Referee Clement Thurpen turned to the VAR system and then presented the defender with a direct red card.
Naples battle draw
Over the past six years, Napoli players have left the group in the Champions League three times, but have never been able to overcome the barrier of the first round. On paper, the wards of Gennaro Gattuso were considered clear outsiders in the confrontation with Barcelona, but serious game problems of blue-garnet could well give them a chance to compete for a ticket to the quarter-finals.
In particular, the unsuccessful Barcelona series on the road could tune in the major way of the hosts. In the last eight matches of the tournament’s playoffs, the Catalans tied twice, lost five times and only got the upper hand - over Manchester United in April 2019. During this period, Lionel Messi and the company scored only twice, having conceded 17 goals. In addition, the position of the blaugrana was complicated by the absence of a number of injured players, including key defenders Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto, as well as star forwards Luis Suarez and Usman Dembele.
Despite personnel problems, the wards of Kike Setena acted as the first number and controlled the meeting, but were not too vigilant after the losses. One of them led to a sharp counterattack by the hosts, culminating in an accurate strike by Dries Mertens. Peter Zelinsky dragged the ball to the right and made the transfer to the opposite flank, where the Belgian was completely alone. He processed the pass with the first touch, and the second irresistibly struck Mark-Andre ter Stegen into the far nine. For the striker, this goal was 121st in the Napoli T-shirt and allowed him to catch up with the top scorer in club history, Marek Gamsik.
However, in the debut of the second half, Barcelona confirmed why it is considered a super club. Sergio Busquets performed a penetrating transfer to Nelson Semeda, who shot at Antoine Griezmann. The world champion was in the center of the penalty box without guardianship and took great advantage of his chance. A couple of minutes later, Napoli nearly lost the main goalkeeper. Messi tried to close the chamber and struck David Ospin in the chest with spikes. The Colombian was still able to continue the meeting, and the Argentine received a well-deserved yellow card.
The ending took place in a tense struggle and ended with a bright skirmish between Arturo Vidal and Mariu Rui. The midfielder of Barcelona played hard in the tackle, which caused dissatisfaction with the defender of Napoli. Athletes began to sort things out, and the Chilean once again showed his wild temper, having faced foreheads with the Portuguese. The head judge immediately responded by awarding him with two yellow cards. At the same time, Rui escaped with one warning.
The return matches in these pairs will be held on March 18.