Saturday 21 / December / 2024
Munich: Bayern Munich comfortably beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 ahead of the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinals against Real Madrid, but they're in serious trouble after two of their key stars had to leave the game through injury with the casualties piling up.
Thomas Tuchel fielded the second oldest XI in the German Bundesliga history, but for his senior side, there were little cobwebs to blow off as they dominated their opponents at the Allianz Arena.
The first chance of the game fell to Thomas Muller but his shot went high in the sixth minute, and then Harry Kane struck in the ninth minute after hesitation by Mario Gotze and Tuta allowed Konrad Laimer to get one-on-one with Trapp to square for Kane to score.
But the lead didn't last for long as Frankfurt hit back through Hugo Ekitike in the 23rd minute when the 21-year-old scoring a long range, beating Manuel Neuer to his left side with a strike from around 25 yards, the Spanish MARCA newspaper reported.
Then more Bayern chances fell to Eric Dier, Muller, Chupo-Moting, and Raphael Guerreiro, however, the former-Bundesliga champions could not convert them to an advantage as frustration began to grow in the sold-out venue in the heart of Germany.
The 2-1 lead in the 61st minute came about in the silliest possible way when Robin Koch elbowed Muller in the box without the ball in play. Kane made no mistake with a whipped penalty into the left corner to close the scoring for the afternoon that left Bayern concerned.
Kane's scored 42 goals and record 13 assists for Bayern this season as he proves himself to be the best striker in Europe, however, the heart of the Allianz Arena stopped when he was left on the floor injured.
Fortunately, he was able to continue but the same cannot be said for Matthijs De Ligt and Konrad Laimer. That means that those two, plus Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman, Dayot Upamecano and Sacha Boey are all concerns/out for the clash with Real Madrid.
Jamal Musiala, their star winger, also missed the game as a precaution by Thomas Tuchel, who perhaps felt he wasn't worth the risk since Bayer Leverkusen have already won the Bundesliga this season.
