Villarreal will take a slender 1-0 advantage into the second leg. Here are the key takeaways from Bayern's 1-0 defeat to Villarreal.
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What was predicted to be an easy outing for the German champions, Bayern Munich, turned out to be a rather disastrous night for them. The defending Europa League champions, Villarreal will take a slender 1-0 advantage into the second leg at the Allianz Arena next week. The home team made life really difficult for Bayern who just weren’t able to break down the Spanish side’s defense and despite some late attacking threat from the German side, Villarreal managed to hold on.
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It was an ideal start for the Yellow Submarine as they took the lead through Arnaut Danjuma just seven minutes into the game much to the delight of the home support. Danjuma grabbed his sixth goal in this season’s Champions League. Francis Coquelin also put the ball in the net just before half time but much to his disappointment the goal was ruled out due to offside. The hosts had chances to increase their lead but they will be more than happy with a victory to take into the second leg.
Bayern will still undoubtedly be the favourites to progress to the semifinals with a home leg still to come and not a massive deficit to overcome. However, that takes nothing away from the exceptional effort Villarreal put out in the Estadio de la Ceramica.
The shock that Villarreal beat Bayern is already big enough to digest but the fact that the Spanish side came very close to increasing their lead on a number of occasions just goes on to prove how much Villarreal deserved their victory. After taking the lead, Villarreal wasted opportunities that would have made Bayern’s job in the second leg much more difficult.
Gerard Moreno hit the post at 53 minutes. 10 minutes later he couldn’t capitalize on a mistake by Manuel Neuer with his shot curling just inches away from the goal. Danjuma also had chances to increase his tally for the night but couldn’t do so. Just three minutes before the 90 minutes ended, Pedraza found himself in acres of space and somehow, he still managed not to score. Villarreal will hope these missed chances don’t come back to haunt them after the tie is over next week.
On what proved out to be a rather unfortunate night for the six-time champions, they still have a few positives to take with them. None so being more important than the performance of Alphonso Davies. The Canadian who has been on the sideline for almost four months came back into the Champions League and delivered a stunning display.
Accompanying his wonderful attacking prowess with some quality defending, Davies ensured that Bayern still have some hopes to build on after a disappointing evening. The left-back had the most dribbles completed in the match with seven and also the most duels won with 14. Davies also had three shots on goal.
Before this season’s Champions League commenced, many had placed their bet on Bayern Munich claiming the European throne. Bayern began a new journey this season by appointing Julian Nagelsmann at the helm. However, even in the Round of 16 first leg against Salzburg, Bayern found problems and could only manage a draw. Even though they managed to advance quite comfortably in the end, the Bavarians will be concerned about the inconsistencies they are facing in Europe.
With a potential match up against Liverpool in the semi finals if Bayern advance, Nagelsmann will be wary of the troubles his side could face against much more quality opposition.
