UEFA Champions League Group E: CFR Cluj vs. Bayern Munich – Half Time Report
German Bundesliga Champions Bayern Munich were to visit the Romanian side CFR Cluj’s home ground as the UEFA Champions League group stages kicked off. The German side was the runner-up of the tournament last season and this time
around they were out there to prove something, as they wanted their team to win even though their star players Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben were missing out in most of the matches.
The basic reason why Bayern Munich were suffering through injuries was because of the fact that they provided a lot of players during the FIFA World Cup 2010 and the players barely got rest.
Even though the visitors did not have their full squad, their coach Louis Van Gaal sent out the best possible line up for his side. With Hans-Jorg Butt standing between the poles, it was Philipp Lahm, Daniel Van Buyten, Martin
Demichelis, and Danijel Pranjic at the back to help the team defend. There were five midfielders played by the former Barcelona tactician as Mario Gomez was being played as the sole striker for the German side. It was Toni Kroos who played on the right flank
along with Anatoliy Tymoschuk on the left; however, the sensational Bastian Schweinsteiger was featured in his favourite centre midfield position as Andreas Otti and Hamit Altintop were played in the holding midfield position. It was clear that the German
side were there to win it and not concede goals as the concentration on the defence was way too much.
On the other hand, the Romanian side played their best eleven. Their coach Sorin Cartu decided to play the best players that he had. Eduard Stancioiu was standing between the two poles as he was the goal stopper for the Romanian
side and he was being assisted by Cadu, Cristian Panin, Felice Piccolo, and Ionut Rada at the back. The Romanian side were playing a traditional 4-4-2 as Tomas Costa and Emil Dica featured in the centre of the midfield. Rafael Bastos and Juan Emmanuel Culio
were the ones who featured on the flanks as Lacina Traore and Roberto De Zerbi featured as the two strikers for Cartu’s side.
The first half was a one-sided affair as the German side totally dominated the game in terms of possession, shots on goals, and even the number of goals scored. The German sensation during the FIFA World Cup 2010, Bastian Schweinsteiger
proved to be the vital figure in the centre midfield, as it was he who helped the team play a lot of passes all around the pitch.
In the twelfth minute, Bayern Munich struck the first blow as their only striker Mario Gomez found the net with the help of Philipp Lahm. The move was simply sensational. It was the German defender Philipp Lahm who found the ball
at his feet and floated it towards the 18 yard box while the Romanian defender could not really stop it from reaching Gomez. The sensational Bayern Munich striker made no mistake in planting the ball into the net from close range.
In the twenty third minute, the story was repeated; however, this time the style of play that Munich pulled out was totally different. This time the move originated from the centre of the pitch as Schweinsteiger headed the ball
towards Gomez, who made no mistake in doubling the lead for the German champions. With Munich leading the match 2-0 in the twenty third minute, the game was sealed; however, in football nothing is finalized until the final whistle is blown.
The first half ended with the German side easily leading the game with two goals that came from Mario Gomez. Louis Van Gaal looked to be very pleased with the performance; however, the Romanian bench looked to be in horror as the
coach was definitely trying to tell his players to improve their defence since there were clear holes that the Munich side had exploited.
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