Bayern Munich only scored once on Tuesday evening, needed a shaky penalty call to do it and didn't look great at the back against CSKA Moscow. But ultimately, they didn't concede, and they're well in control of their UEFA Champions League group after a 1-0 win in Russia.
3 things from Bayern Munich’s 1-0 UEFA Champions League win over CSKA Moscow
It wasn’t highly entertaining or dominant, but Bayern Munich got all three points away in Russia.
Alexander Hassenstein
Mario Götze should have scored an opener nine minutes in off a cutback by Juan Bernat, but he put an uncontested shot well over the bar. He created the winner shortly after that, though, drawing a foul by Mario Fernandes inside the box. Thomas Müller scored the penalty, and Bayern didn't need another goal.
CSKA probably should have scored on more than one occasion in the first half, however. Manuel Neuer had to make a great stop on Ahmed Musa in the 37th minute and Roman Eremenko hit the crossbar with a curling shot four minutes after that.
The second half was less eventful, but a lot more of the same style of game, with Bayern dominating but CSKA looking threatening on the counter. Ultimately, there were no chances in the second half as exciting as those n the first.
CSKA: Akinfeev, A. Berezutski, V. Berezutski, Ignashevich, Schennikov, Natcho, Milanov, Fernandes, Musa, Eremenko, Tosic
Goals: None.
Bayern: Neuer, Bernat, Dante, Benatia, Lahm, Alonso, Götze, Alaba, Müller, Robben, Lewandowski
Goals: Müller (pen 22’)
3 things
1. Xabi Alonso isn't a good fit for this role - Thomas Müller and David Alaba aren't real central midfielders, and Alaba was playing really far up the pitch, leaving Alonso very isolated in a defensive role. He's not a great defensive player, and did absolutely nothing to hinder CSKA's counter attacks, which looked consistently dangerous.
2. CSKA might have scored with a striker - Unfortunately for Leonid Slutsky’s team, while they looked dangerous, they couldn’t score. This was probably because they didn’t play with a real striker. Instead of using a false nine or something along those lines, their team looked like it featured two wide men, an attacking midfielder, and no real forward at times. This isn’t a great strategy.
3. Bayern won’t get found out soon - Once again, Bayern’s talent won out despite the team having a weird gameplan and not playing that well. This will continue to be the case in all competitions until roughly the UEFA Champions League semifinals.
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