Bayern Munich’s UCL campaign of unprecedented dominance peaks in Manuel Neuer masterclass v PSG
In a thrilling night of football, Bayern Munich outlasted PSg 1-0 to win their sixth-ever Champions League trophy.
The win was the culmination of an incredible season where the Bavarians won every single match in the Europe on their way to securing the club’s second-ever historic Treble (just the second side to do this). Here’s how the players rated at the Estadio da Luz:
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PSG
Keylor Navas – 7 – Excellent performance, made several big saves and wasn’t intimidated by Bayern’s crosses. Didn’t deserve to lose.
Thilo Kehrer – 4 – Didn’t impact the game much. Couldn’t live with Coman 1v1 and was exposed at the back-post every time Bayern crossed into that zone. Massively culpable for Coman’s match-winner.
Thiago Silva – 7 – A mostly solid display at the back but found wanting on the match-winner.
Presnel Kimpembe – 7 – Some ropey moments in possession. Unreal diving header clearance on the hour mark. A genuinely impressive performance at the back as he held Bayern in check.
Juan Bernat – 6 – Impressive defensively but couldn’t do much in attack.
Marquinhos – 8 – A defensive pillar. Cleared almost everything Bayern put into the box. He was also PSG’s most potent attacking threat in the second-half.
Ander Herrera – 5 – Struggled in the build-up, pressed easily. Some nice passes further forward, however. Taken off with 20 minutes left.
Leandro Paredes – 5 – Best player on the pitch for the first half-hour. Amazing pass for Mbappé and sprayed the ball around nicely. Got bypassed as the game wore on.
PSG have attempted just two shots in the second half. #UCLFinal
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) August 23, 2020
Angel Di Maria – 6 – Big miss early on when put through by Herrera. Looked dangerous on the ball (albeit he cut back too early too often) as his improvisation caught out the Bayern defence.
Kylian Mbappé – 4 – Shocking miss late in first-half. Should have won a penalty in the second-half but the ref denied him. Overall a disappointing display from the prolific Frenchman although in his defence his midfield didn’t help him.
Neymar – 4 – A great chance early on that he scuffed at Neuer. PSG couldn’t live with his movement but his influenced waned badly as the match wore on and his theatrics took over. He clearly had the beating of Bayern’s defence, but just wasn’t at it enough. A seriously disappointing performance in what should have been his final.
Substitutes:
Marco Verratti (for Paredes 65′) – 5 – Didn’t impact the game in the slightest.
Julian Draxler (for Herrera 72′) – 5 – This German came on to have a better view of Bayern dominating the game.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (for Di Maria 80′) – n/a – No impact.
Layvin Kurzawa (for Bernat 80′) – 5 – Solid enough.
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Bayern Munich
Manuel Neuer – 9 – Two years out from that foot injury which cost him a season and led to him going into the World Cup completely undercooked and botching his title defence, Manuel Neuer finally looks back to his best. Bayern’s defence has been ropey the entire tournament in Portugal but you’d never know it because Neuer has been so dominant.
Manuel Neuer has now kept a clean sheet in both a World Cup Final AND a #UCLFinal.
Time to party like it's 2014. 🥳 pic.twitter.com/Tf5X9MqcxX
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) August 23, 2020
Tonight the German was a colossus. Every time PSG cut his defence open (and it happened on a handful of occasions) Neuer would emerge from out of his goal like Gandalf in Moria screaming “YOU! SHALL NOT! PASS!” at the PSG players whose shots ricocheted off his body like bullets do off Superman. Nothing sums his night up more than Kylian Mbappé being a yard offside 1v1 with the Bayern skipper and still being unable to get the ball into the net. A true captain’s display from the now two-time Treble winner.
Only three goalkeepers have lifted the #UCL trophy as a captain:
🇩🇰 Peter Schmeichel (1999)
🇪🇸 Iker Casillas (2014)
🇩🇪 Manuel Neuer (2020)A world-class trio. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/9hdYh8sO1S
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) August 23, 2020
Joshua Kimmich – 8 – Good in attack, weak at the back. But seriously so, so good in attack. Sublime, measured cross for the match-winning goal and helped Bayern dominate so thoroughly in midfield. Lucky to not give away a penalty, however.
Jerome Boateng – 5 – Clearly vulnerable to pace and movement. Had to be subbed off with an injury in the first-half.
David Alaba – 7 – A poor pass almost played PSG in early on but recovered well second-half to help shut PSG out.
Alphonso Davies – 7 – Struggled with the movement of PSG players in his channel. Got nutmegged. Some nice attacking forays but not the Canadian’s finest hour. Still, a night to remember for other reasons.
Thiago – 9 – Helped maintain possession in the first-half, then broke the game open with a superb pass in the build-up to the match-winning goal. An incredible performance from the Spaniard in perhaps his last ever game for the club.
No Bayern player in the #UCLFinal played more passes (85), made more ball recoveries (7), made more tackles (3), made more interceptions (2) or created more chances (2) than Thiago.
His 16th trophy with the club. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/NGi2zckbuA
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) August 23, 2020
Leon Goretzka – 8 – Some good blocks and helped add so much thrust to the game.
Serge Gnabry – 6 – Booked for a couple of fouls on Neymar. Didn’t really impact the game much.
Kingsley Coman – 8 – Looked Bayern’s brightest attacking threat on the left and got revenge on his old club by scoring the tournament-winning goal with a brilliant back-post header to make sure Bayern won every single match in the Champions League.
Thomas Muller – 7 – Worked tirelessly for the side but not much of an impact in attack for once.
Robert Lewandowski – 6 – Superb turn-and-shot 20 mins in hit post. Unreal header forced save. Kept out of the game for the most part but he was impactful when involved.
WWWWWWWWWWW
Bayern are the first team in Champions League history to win every game in a single campaign.
Absolute dominance. #UCLFinal pic.twitter.com/TKyL0Dg2PU
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) August 23, 2020
Substitutes:
Niklas Sule (for Boateng 24′) – 7 – Solid in defence after coming on early.
Philippe Coutinho (for Gnabry 68′) – 6 – Looked lively in the brief moments he was on the ball.
Ivan Perisic (for Coman 68′) – 5 – Didn’t really impact the game.
Corentin Tolisso (for Thiago 86′) – n/a – Came on late.
