Bayern Munich tore Chelsea apart for the second time in the tie as they strolled into the last 8 of the Champions League. Robert Lewandowski was the key figure in the match, assisting two and scoring two himself.
Chelsea were without Christian Pulisic, Pedro and Cesar Azpilicueta through injury, and the Arsenal-linked Willian was also nowhere to be seen in the squad. This left Lampard with no choice but to put his hope of an unbelievable turnaround from the first leg in youngsters.
Bayern started the game very strongly, with Gnabry’s through pass finding Lewandowski in the box, only for Caballero to bring him down unfairly. Just 10 minutes in, the Polish striker had tucked away a penalty to make it 4-0 on aggregate. Lewandowski was at the heart of the second goal too, as he was given all the time in the world to pick out Perisic, and the Croatian poked it home at the near post to add more misery on Frank.
Chelsea appeared to gain some sort of a foothold just 4 minutes later, with Callum Hudson-Odoi dancing through the Bayern midfield and striking into the far corner. However, his brilliant finish was chalked off, as Abraham was offside when he passed the ball to the winger.
The Blues were able to score before the break though, with Emerson crossing into the box along the ground. The ball seemed to be a comfortable one for Neuer to deal with, but the ‘keeper was only able to divert it straight into the path of Abraham, who passed into an empty net to make it 2-1 on the night.
Despite Chelsea’s goal, Bayern never really looked troubled. Philippe Coutinho came close to scoring a stunning long-range strike in the 72′ minute, and the third goal came just 4 minutes later. Coutinho played a ball to Lewandowski, and Chelsea’s awful defending came to light as the Pole picked out Tolisso, and the midfielder was left unmarked, allowing him to fire a volley through Caballero.
As we have seen so often throughout both the Bundesliga and the Champions Leag ue, Bayern are not a team to hold back once a win is secure. In the 83′ minute, Odriozola whipped in a wonderful cross to the back post, where Lewandowski was free to power home a wonderful header for his second of the game, and his third of the tie. His two goals put him ahead of Raúl into third in all-time Champions League goals, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi; not a bad group of players to find yourself amongst.
Bayern Munich never really looked like throwing away their three goal advantage from Stamford Bridge, and their huge aggregate win will see them face off against Barcelona in the quarter-finals; a truly mouth-watering match in prospect. Meanwhile, Chelsea have played their last match of an overall impressive season, and will be ready to fight in the Champions League next year, with the likes of Werner, Ziyech and potentially Havertz in their squad.
Although, they really do need to sort out their defence.
By Jed Vine
