Although they secured the knockout phase about twenty days ago, Bayern did not want to take it easy in Kyiv. The Bavarians didn’t have to worry about the result, they didn’t arrive in full strength since they have Covid issues, but they had typical German mentality and wanted to win anyway. And they won, kept their perfect Champions League record in 2021, and secured the first place in their group: Dinamo Kyiv – Bayern Munich 1-2 (0-2). 9 – Robert Lewandowski has scored in each of his last nine UEFA Champions League appearances, becoming the first player to have netted in nine in a row on more than occasion, also achieving that feat in August 2020. Machine. pic.twitter.com/tQJe5Dwt05— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 23, 2021 The only difference from Bayern’s other wins was that this one was not so impressive and Munich players could have easily come back home with one, or even without points. Although they had a comfortable 2-0 at the break, Julian Nagelsman’s team was not very comfortable. Dinamo was constantly breathing down the neck of the Munich rival, and Manuel Neuer was the ’weakest link’ this time. It was his 124th match in the Champions League, and he caught up with Gianluigi Buffon in second place, but Neuer will want to forget this game as fast as he can. The German keeper, otherwise perfect, does have rare days when he is completely off the mark, and this was the night. Maybe it was because of the Ukraine winter, maybe the stars didn’t line up properly, whatever the reason, Neuer was terrible. On one occasion, he completely missed the ball sent to him by Goretzka and he was lucky, because the bar prevented an own goal. He misjudged Tsygankov’s shot two minutes into stoppage time and the ball nearly went in, and he was also shaky while stopping Tsygankov’s shot minutes before. Luckily for Neuer, Robert Lewandowski was there to secure an early lead, and the Pole scored a fantastic bicycle goal in the 14th minute. It was his ninth goal in the fifth game of this year’s Champions League, and if he continues like this, he could very easily reach and surpass the record of Cristiano Ronaldo (16) in the number of goals in one year set in the 2015/16 season. Bayern’s second goal was only slightly less attractive. Tolisso sent a sharp pass into the penalty area, Thomas Muller masterfully passed the ball through his legs, and Kingsley Koman on the other side fired at the ball, which on the way to the net hooked first the crossbar, and then the tripod.
