Bayern Munich qualifies for UEFA Champions League final

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Bayern Munich qualifies for UEFA Champions League final

Bayern Munich breezes into UEFA Champions League final match on Wednesday, where they will face Paris St-Germain (PSG).

The German champion cruise pass Lyon in their 10th straight Champions League win. Two goals from Serge Gnabry led them to an emphatic 3-0 win over Olympique Lyonnais in Lisbon.

Bayern Munich will now be bidding for their sixth European Cup triumph when they come up against Neymar and Kylian Mbappe on Sunday.

After convincingly beating Chelsea, FC Baccelona and now Lyon, Hansi Flick’s side will surely start as favourites.

The Germans are unbeaten in 2020, winning 24 of 25 matches in all competitions and they have won every UEFA Champions League game this season.

No team has ever won the Champions League withsa 100 percent record but while Bayern Munich will fancy their chances, PSG’s powerful attack should make for an entertaining contest.

“Paris are a good team. For now we celebrate a little bit, but afterwards we focus on the next game,” said Bayern Munich’s Canadian left-back Alphonso Davies.

“It’s going to be a good game, there’s going to be goals in it. This is what you dream of as a footballer —- playing against the best in Europe. And we’re able to do that, I’m excited,” he added.

PSG will take hope from the early chances which Lyon created.

Memphis Depay found space behind the Bayern Munich defence but, forced wide, he could only shoot into the side-netting.

Lyon, who upset Juventus and Manchester City in the previous rounds, had warmed up on the field before the game with rarely-seen intensity.

This showed very well as they took the game to Bayern Munich and they went close again in the 17th minute.

Powerful striker Karl Toko Ekambi found space in the Bayern Munich penalty box and should have done better after his first shot was blocked and his follow-up effort struck the post.

But moments later Bayern Munich grabbed the lead.

A clever ball from Joshua Kimmich found Gnabry who danced in from the right and unleashed an unstoppable shot, from over 20 metres out, into the top corner.

Gnabry went close again with a snap-shot which Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes did well to keep out as Bayern Munich pushed hard for a second.

It came in the 33rd minute — and was started and finished by Gnabry.

The former Arsenal midfielder fed Ivan Perisic on the left and the Croatian’s low cross found Robert Lewandowski at the back post.

His weak shot was saved by Lopes, only for the alert Gnabry to pounce and convert his ninth goal in nine UEFA Champions League games.

Lewandowski, looking well below his usual levels of sharpness, had another good chance after the interval, but he again made it too easy for Lopes, leaving Lyon still with hope.

Moussa Dembele, the two-goal hero in the quarter-final win over Manchester City, came on for Depay in the 58th minute and added much-needed life to the Lyon attack.

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But once again, when the chance came for the French side, they failed to make the most of it.

Houssem Aouar found Ekambi in the box but the Cameroonian’s finish was straight at Manuel Neuer.

Bayern Munich lacked the intensity of their first-half display but they made sure of the win in the 88th minute.

That was when Lewandowski rose to head home a Kimmich cross from a free-kick for his 15th Champions League goal this season.

Lewandowski has scored in nine straight UEFA Champions League matches — only Cristiano Ronaldo (11) has a longer streak.

He has notched 55 goals in all competitions this season.

Lyon’s disappointment will be stronger given that their seventh-place finish in the French league means they will not be competing in European football next season.

“We knew that we were up against a better team and we stuck to our game plan but to beat such a team, you need to score when you have the chance,” said Lyon sports director Juninho.

“Maybe it would have been different if we had converted our early chances.”

 

Bayern Munich qualifies for UEFA Champions League final

 

 

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