Champions League FC Bayern narrowly wins against Arsenal and advances to the semi-finals
Headed the 1-0 win against Arsenal: Joshua Kimmich
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Like BVB, FC Bayern Munich is in the semi-finals of the Champions League. One goal was enough for Bayern against Arsenal FC.
After the biggest win of the season, the Bayern stars around match winner Joshua Kimmich jumped exuberantly in front of their fans, with “Super Bayern, super Bayern” echoing from the stands. Celebration mood on the international stage instead of sadness in the gray everyday life of the league: FC Bayern has kept its last chance for the title alive – and German football has the hope of a new edition of the legendary Wembley final. One day after Borussia Dortmund’s furious semi-final entry, the outstanding Kimmich led the German record champions into the first semi-final of the Champions League on Wednesday with his powerful header in the 64th minute in a 1-0 (0-0) win against Arsenal FC since the last premier class triumph in 2020.
After the 2-2 draw in the first leg in London, the Munich team put on an extremely concentrated performance in the exciting second leg in front of 75,000 spectators. Eleven years after the Königslassen final between Bayern and Dortmund with Arjen Robben’s 2-1 winning goal at London’s Wembley Stadium, a new edition on June 1st has become realistic. Coach Thomas Tuchel still has the possibility of a glorious farewell to Munich even without a championship or cup.
Thomas Tuchel promises Müller commitment
Being one of the best four teams in Europe again means “a lot,” said Tuchel after the 1-0 (0-0) against Arsenal on Wednesday in the quarter-final second leg on DAZN: “The semi-final is an important step. The last four, that was fun.”
The first half was a bit of a chess game, said Tuchel. “I saw us extremely strong in the second half. We showed a bit more personality, more courage.”
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The coach did without veteran Thomas Müller in the second leg for tactical reasons. So he still has to wait for his 150th premier class game. But he received a promise from Tuchel: “Now there are two more, then he’ll get it.”
“Excellent. The second half in particular was very good. We could have scored one or two more goals and were more determined. The bottom line is that we deserved to go through,” said goalscorer Kimmich at DAZN and added: “We are happy that we finally be in the semi-finals again.” When he scored the goal, he was lucky “that no one really felt responsible for me.”
“Gift” Champions League
Tuchel described the duel with the second-place team in the Premier League as “a gift and privilege”. Above all, it was a high hurdle, and the respect from the people of Munich was correspondingly great. Bayern acted very focused, worked defensively with a lot of dedication, without taking too many risks. Just don’t make any mistakes was the watchword.
The idea of security was already clear in Tuchel’s starting eleven. After the loss of Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman, the coach relied on the Portuguese Raphael Guerreiro on the left offensive instead of veteran Thomas Müller to slow down the strong right wing from London. The plan worked and there was little danger from the lightning-quick Bukayo Saka.
FC Bayern Munich and Arsenal are watching each other
In contrast to the furious first leg, a high level of surveillance developed in the first half, which was at the expense of the offensive power. Bayern only got really dangerous once in the first half, when Noussair Mazraoui broke through and his deflected shot went just wide of the goal (23′). Due to the defensive orientation, winger Leroy Sané, who, according to Tuchel, has to fight on due to his pubic bone problems, and striker Harry Kane rarely saw action. Jamal Musiala was also well delivered.
But the same also applied on the other side. A long-range shot from Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard (29th) and an unplaced attempt on goal by Gabriel Martinelli (31st) – national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer didn’t have much more work to do. The 38-year-old returned to goal as usual after Sven Ulreich played as a precaution against Cologne (2-0) at the weekend. Nevertheless, Tuchel disliked the fact that Bayern sometimes retreated too far from the sidelines.
Bayern more active than Arsenal London
The game was full of tension, and in the second half there were finally some top-class chances. Bayern were now the more active team. After a cross from the eager Kimmich, Leon Goretzka hit the crossbar with a header, and Guerreiro’s follow-up shot hit the outside post. It was a signal for more Munich courage, which was rewarded after just over an hour. After a fine cross, Kimmich was there with his head and rewarded his strong performance.
Shortly afterwards, Sané could have even increased the score, but he put the ball over the goal (66th). “Super Bayern, super Bayern,” was what rang through the arena, which wasn’t always the case in this bumpy season. But this time the will, commitment and passion were right. The Munich team hardly allowed anything to happen, and German international Kai Havertz was also completely unregistered from the Gunners.
Real Madrid as semi-final opponents
In the semi-finals, Bayern will now face Real Madrid, who eliminated defending champions Manchester City in another quarter-final thriller – with a flattering 4-3 win on penalties. After regular time and extra time, the score was 1-1 on Wednesday evening (1-0, 1:1) confessed.
Note: This article has been updated several times.
tkr/Christian Kunz, Klaus Bergmann and Stefan Tabeling DPA
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