3:16 shots on goal at the break, some of which were literally demonstrated – but in the end, the ultimately ice-cold FC Bayern Munich triumphed 3-1 (1-1) at Galatasaray Istanbul in the Champions League on Tuesday (October 24th, 2023).
The game at Rams Park did not require any start-up time. The Turks, cheered on by their usual frenetic fans, immediately started forward at high speed and also had quick goals through Mauro Icardi (4th) and Kerem Aktürkoglu (7th). Seconds later, Bayern briefly brought the constant whistling concert to a complete standstill during their possession: Leroy Sané was too quick on the left for the Galatasaray defense, his cross pass landed at Kingsley Coman, who finished dry into the left corner: 1: 0 in the 8th minute.
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Opportunity Festival for Istanbul
But Istanbul seemed unimpressed. Immediately in return, Aktürkoğlu had the equalizer with a side kick, but Sven Ulreich brilliantly directed the ball around the post. The Bayern defense was extremely shaky, and in the 11th minute Ulreich made a mistake on a cross from Sacha Boey, but Aktürkoğlu fired the high-five over the empty goal from six meters.
Bayern then retreated further and further, gave up the midfield almost without resistance and only relied on occasional counterattacks via Sané and Coman. However, they played them far too sloppily on several occasions and allowed Istanbul to have a ball possession rate of almost 60 percent due to the many mistakes
Kim and Kimmich meet Icardi
With further big chances from Icardi (23’/Mazraoui extended the ball past his own outside post) and Lucas Torreira (24’/centimeter past the right angle), the guests’ increasing passivity could have taken revenge, but the penalty only came after just under one Half an hour: After a cross from Kazimcan Karatas, both Min-Jae Kim and Joshua Kimmich missed the ball, both hitting Icardi’s legs instead – Icardi lofted the justified penalty into the goal in Panenka style to make it 1-1.
The goal did not serve as a wake-up call for Munich. Mazraoui on the right was a big weak point, Konrad Laimer on the six position had no access at all, Matthijs de Ligt only saw Icardi running past him on the right and left, Harray Kane wasn’t a factor up front and Sané seemed increasingly disgruntled: at times he passed the ball to himself too far forward, then he was angry because Kimmich hadn’t delivered the ball to him on time.
Bavaria has rarely been shown off like this
Kimmich then swam at the back, but after losing the ball, Icardi missed the next great chance (45th), shortly before Ulreich had made another strong save against Aktürkoğlu.
The score on goal for “Gala” at the break was 16:3 – Bayern have rarely been shown in such a way in recent years. From their point of view, the fact that they were somehow able to save the 1-1 score at the break was the best news of the early evening so far.
Tuchel trusts his team and is rewarded
Tuchel’s reaction to the second half: none. The identical team had the opportunity to do better from the 46th minute onwards, which initially only succeeded to a limited extent: At the back it was no longer burning almost every minute as before, but at the front the balls were held a little longer – but they were still there The Munich team continued to give up counterattack space too often.
Then came Kane. After a well-thought-out combination via Mazraoui and Jamal Musiala, the ball landed at the Englishman, who first finished with his heel and then sank the rebound to make it 2-1 (72′). The general state of shock at Galatasaray and in the stands was audible and noticeable: seven minutes later, Musiala even used a Kane pass to make it 3-1.
At the end of the game, the statisticians gave the “expected goals” with 2.5: 1.4 for Istanbul, which was even low from Galatasaray’s point of view. But in the end the effectiveness alone was the decisive factor for the Munich team.
