Bayern woes mount with 1st-leg loss at Lazio
Ciro Immobile scored a 69th-minute penalty to earn hosts Lazio a 1-0 victory over 10-man Bayern Munich on Wednesday in their Champions League round of 16 first-leg clash.
Immobile converted his spot-kick after Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano‘s clumsy challenge on Gustav Isaksen for which the France international was sent off with a straight red card.
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Disciplined Lazio stifled the German side’s attacks and Bayern were toothless throughout, failing to get a single effort on target in the match.
It is the first time since February 2019 that Bayern have failed to record at least one shot on goal in a competitive match, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Their 17 shots were the most by a team that failed to record a shot on target in a UEFA Champions League game since 2010-11.
The Bavarians, favourites going into the game, were desperate to bounce back from Saturday’s 3-0 Bundesliga loss to leaders Bayer Leverkusen which left them five points off the top.
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They will return to Munich with more pressure piling on coach Thomas Tuchel and his team after their second straight defeat. They have failed to score in their last two games.
“We started well had a chance in the first minute and then with Harry Kane and then with Jamal Musiala. We had the game under control in the first half,” Tuchel said.
“But in the second our performance dropped inexplicably. We made too many individual errors and made our opponents stronger and we lost concentration. We lost our rhythm.
“It was completely our responsibility. We lost a game today that in the first half looked like we could not lose it.”
Tuchel played down concerns about his situation.
“Worried about my future? No I am not,” he said.
Bayern started well and pressed the Italians high to create early chances for Joshua Kimmich and Kane, who both narrowly missed the target.
The Italians, who had lost 6-2 on aggregate to Bayern at this stage three years ago, responded with a Luis Alberto missile that flew wide of Manuel Neuer‘s goal.
The tempo gradually dropped, Bayern struggled with the disciplined Italian back line and had to wait until the 40th minute to threaten again with Musiala firing over the bar from close range.
Lazio should have taken the lead two minutes after the restart when Isaksen only had Neuer to beat but the keeper stood his ground to block his shot.
The Dane earned a penalty when Immobile passed to Isaksen in the box and Upamecano arrived late and stepped on his ankle.
Immobile kept his cool and sent Neuer the wrong way to give his team the advantage going into the return leg in Munich on March 5.
“We worked and prepared for this match to have a say in it,” said Immobile. “I was convinced that the team would put everything out there.
“We had some opportunities and we had to be good at exploiting them ahead of the return match and we did just that.”
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.