Bayern Munich’s famous defence was finally breached - by themselves. A Holger Badstuber own goal cancelled out Toni Kroos’ opener and ensured Napoli and Bayern Munich shared the spoils at the San Paolo.
Napoli Vs. Bayern Munich, 2011 UEFA Champions League: Teams Settle For 1-1 Draw
Up stepped Mario Gomez, Destroyer of Worlds. Against him was a sleepy little goalkeeper from the foothills. Goalkeeper won, as Morgan de Sanctis guessed correctly, hurling himself to his left to grab the striker’s admittedly weak spot kick, punching the air in celebration. Things got fairly feisty after that, with the announcers commenting that Napoli weren’t doing anything through the middle but missing that they were bit hit with crunching professional fouls whenever they tried. Thomas Muller laid in a particularly nasty on on Lavezzi in breaking up a counterattack, and on a different day could have been sent off for what turned into a two-footed scissor lunge. Instead, he went into the book, along with eight(!) other players.
Anyway, the game went on. There were chances to finish things up for both sides - Bayern more than Napoli on account of not having the world’s most lackadaisical defence - but at the end of the day it seemed as though each would be happy with the draw, and that’s what we ended up getting. Bayern still lead Group A, and Napoli remain in second place ahead of Manchester City. Attention now shifts to the reverse fixture at the Allianz Arena. If Napoli can get a result there, they’re very likely to go through.
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