In the Champions League last-16 first leg on Wednesday, Ciro Immobile scored a penalty in the 69th minute, leading Lazio to a 1-0 win against Bayern Munich. Bayern Munich ended the game with 10 players.
Immobile converted his spot-kick after the Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano’s clumsy challenge on Gustav Isaksen for which the France international was sent off with a straight red card.
Lazio effectively prevented the German team from launching successful attacks, while Bayern lacked offensive power and were unable to produce any shots on goal during the game.
The team from Bavaria, who were predicted to win, were determined to recover from a 3-0 loss in the Bundesliga against leaders Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, putting them five points behind the top.
After back-to-back losses, the head coach Thomas Tuchel and his team will face increased pressure upon their return to Munich. They have been unable to score in their last two matches.
According to Tuchel, we had a strong start and even had opportunities early on with Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala. We were in control of the game in the first half, but inexplicably, our performance dropped in the second half. We made too many mistakes and gave our opponents an advantage, causing us to lose focus and our rhythm.
We take full responsibility for the loss. The game appeared to be in our favor during the first half, but we ultimately ended up losing.
Tuchel dismissed worries about his employment stability. “Am I concerned about my future? No, I am not,” he stated.
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Harry Kane expressed that it has been a challenging week. Although they had opportunities in the first half, their energy and creativity diminished in the second half. Additionally, being reduced to 10 players made it even more difficult.
We must continue to persevere; we are still in the running for the Bundesliga, and we have the ability to reverse this situation. A single game or moment of inspiration can make all the difference.
Bayern had opportunities in the beginning for Joshua Kimmich and Kane, but they both narrowly missed the goal. The Italian team, who previously lost to Bayern 6-2 in this stage of the tournament three years ago, fought back with a strong shot from Luis Alberto that went wide of Manuel Neuer’s goal.
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The pace decreased over time and Bayern faced difficulties against the organized Italian defense. It wasn’t until the 40th minute that they were able to make another attempt, with Musiala’s shot sailing over the crossbar from a short distance.
Two minutes into the second half, Lazio had a chance to take the lead when Isaksen faced off against Neuer, but the keeper stayed strong and stopped his shot.
The Dane won a penalty when Immobile passed to Isaksen in the box and Upamecano arrived late and stepped on his ankle. Immobile kept his cool and sent Neuer the wrong way to give Maurizio Sarri’s team the advantage going into the return leg in Munich on 5 March.
“We worked and prepared for this match to have a say in it,” Immobile said. “I was convinced that the team would put everything out there. We had some opportunities and we had to be good at exploiting them ahead of the return match and we did just that.”
Bayern took to social media after the game to denounce the racist harassment aimed at Upamecano. “FC Bayern strongly denounces the racist remarks directed towards Dayot Upamecano on social media,” Bayern stated on X.
Source: theguardian.com
