Bayern Munich nick late away goal against Inter Milan – UEFA Champions League
Last night’s clash between Bayern Munich and Inter Milan was a repeat of last year’s UEFA Champions League final as Bayern visited San Siro for the first leg of the Round of 16 fixture.
However, history did not repeat itself as Bayern walked away victorious with a one-goal lead that may make all the difference for both the teams.
Last year, Inter had dominated Bayern with a 2-0 crushing defeat. But with the absence of that result’s mastermind, Jose Mourinho, Inter seemed a completely different team.
Bayern Munich looked the better side this time around and in the end managed a late goal that would give the Germans a great lift as they are not known to be easy competition on their home ground.
Inter Milan started fast at the San Siro. Young Centre Back http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wesley-Sneijder-c36799 but his header lacked
direction and it flew past the post. It was a lively start to a well-anticipated match.
After a frantic 15 minutes, everything had gone quiet at the San Siro. Luiz Gustavo had a couple of pops for Bayern from 30 yards out, but hardly threatened. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Julio-Cesar-c19961 managed to push the first one around his post, and the second one was well wide. Twenty
minutes had gone by and there were no goals at San Siro.
Finally there was a chance for Inter. Sammy Eto'o found Esteban Cambiasso with a delightful pull-back, but his shot was charged down.
Bayern's best effort in the first half-hour came when Arjen Robben crossed from the right and found Franck Ribery in the area... but he saw his header hit the bar and go over.
Inter were on the ball again and Sammy Eto'o spun and fired in a shot from about 12 yards out that Thomas Kraft did well to keep out.
Despite a number of chances for Inter, Bayern definitely looked more dangerous. The impressive Arjen Robben exchanged passes with Mario Gomez and drove diagonally into the box before unleashing a fierce shot. The angle was difficult and his shot smashed
the post and went out.
As the second half kicked off, Inter missed a golden opportunity to break the deadlock when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Esteban-Cambiasso-c12912 wasting a great chance off the rebound; his shot went well over the bar.
Inter had started to crank it up in the 2nd half, Bayern keeper Thomas Kraft once again came to Bayern’s rescue at the San Siro. He got a hand to Houssine Kharja's drive and denied the Inter substitute.
As the match looked destined for a goalless draw, Inter got a big shock when Inter Milan goalkeeper Julio Cesar spilled http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arjen-Robben-c6521’s shot from 25 yards. Mario Gomez followed up and had an easy job to smash home the rebound. The referee blew the final whistle
soon afterwards. The 1-0 win may not be the perfect revenge for the defeat in the Champions League Final, but if Bayern Munich manage to knock the defending champions out of the competition in the second leg. It may go a long way towards healing the German
side’s wounds.
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