UEFA Champions League player ratings: AS Roma 3 – Bayern Munich 2 (Part 2)
Bayern Munich
Thomas Kraft – 8
Germany’s youth setup continues to produce young stars with stunning consistency. Kraft made an impressive Champions League debut, and will be a player to watch out for in the coming years. He made some inspired saves early on, but his crowning moment came
on the hour mark when he made a fantastic double-stop from Simplicio and Brighi. He was extremely unlucky on Roma’s third, as he correctly guessed Totti’s penalty, only to see it creep under his arm.
Danijel Pranjic – 5
Pranjic was taken to school by an inspired Menez on more than once occasion, as Pranjic simply failed to cope with the explosive Frenchman. Also, he was unable to exploit the space left by Cassetti’s runs forward.
Martin Demichelis – 5
While Demichelis kept the Roman attack at bay in the first half, he was all over the place after the interval and was left trailing in the Stadio Olimpico dust. The Argentine was left red-faced as Menez blitzed past him to score the Gilarossi’s opener.
Daniel Van Buyten – 5
Like his central defensive partner, Van Buyten failed to turn up for the second half as the Gilarossi tightened the screws. Buyten failed miserably against the likes of Vucinic, Menez and Borriello in the second half.
Philipp Lahm – 5.5
The club captain is always ready to lend a hand in attack, but was uncharacteristically sloppy in possession. Lahm was nowhere to be seen, as Riise delivered the cross for the equaliser from Lahm’s part of the pitch.
Franck Ribery – 6.5
The Mercurial wing wizard returned to the setup after a never-ending spell on the sidelines with numerous injuries. Ribery provided the assist for the opener and was running into space throughout the game. Ribery was extremely unlucky not to be awarded a
penalty in the first half for a sloppy Matteo Brighi foul. However, he was visibly jaded towards the end of the game and was substituted.
Andreas Ottl – 5
Ottl was completely anonymous during the game. Bastian Schweinsteiger will be welcomed back with open arms when he returns following suspension.
Toni Kroos – 7
Kroos has a very bright future ahead of him. His confidence and composure, belies his tender years, after he put in another impressive performance for the Bavarian giants.
Anatoliy Tymoshchuck – 5.5
Tymoshchuck held his own against the likes of De Rossi and Brighi in the first half, but failed miserably when the Romans upped the tempo in the second period. The ease with which Menez teased him in the build up for Roma’s opening goal was remarkable.
Thomas Muller – 7
Muller is barely out of his teenage years and has already become a super star. The World cup finalist put in yet another impressive performance leading the Bavarian attack. His one touch pass to assist Gomez for Bayern’s second goal underlined his intelligence.
Mario Gomez – 8
Following a disastrous start to his Bayern Munich career, Gomez is finally proving his worth with a string of fantastic performances. Gomez has now scored 14 goals in his last 10 appearances, and his brace last night was of the highest quality. However,
Gomez could do nothing to counter the Gilarossi onslaught in the second period as he was starved of service.
Substitutions:
Diego Contento – 5
The 20-year-old defender replaced Muller in the closing stages to shore up the midfield, but was left chasing De Rossi’s shadow for the time he was on the pitch.
Hamit Altintop – 4
The Turkish International replaced Ribery towards the end of the game, but was unable to make an impression.
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