Atletico Madrid 1-1 Bayern Munich: 5 talking points as Thomas Muller scores late to preserve Bavarians' unbeaten run | UEFA Champions League 2020-21
Bayern Munich managed to keep their unbeaten run in the UEFA Champions League intact despite fielding a team full of young players against Atletico Madrid.
The hosts were perhaps the favourites at the Wanda Metropolitano when the teams were announced. They dominated a majority of the game before the Bavarians managed to draw level late in the second half.
Manager Hansi Flick made nine changes to the team that beat VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Saturday. Unsurprisingly, they struggled for tempo as Atletico strung together some good moves in the attacking half. Diego Simeone’s side took the lead through a well-taken Joao Felix goal and did well to stifle a largely lifeless Bayern Munich attack in the first half to take a one-goal lead into half-time.
Bayern Munich were a lot more proactive in the second half and managed to stay in the game, bringing on the quality off the bench late in the game to equalise. A smart move by the holders resulted in Thomas Muller getting fouled in the box, and the German dispatched his penalty with authority to earn a point from the game.
Here are the main talking points from the game:
#5 Joao Felix ran the show for Atletico Madrid
A changed Bayern Munich backline simply couldn’t deal with Joao Felix’s agility and trickery on the ball. The Portuguese was pretty much untouchable with the ball at his feet and linked up play really well with his one-touch passing, almost being the perfect player for the slow-motion camera work.
The 21-year-old scored Atletico’s only goal. The strike showed his maturity in the box as he sneaked in to catch Nicklas Sule on his heels. He could have finished the game with more than just the one goal and even an assist as his pass for Angel Correa in the opening exchanges was inch-perfect. However, the Argentine fluffed his lines.
Felix was dispossessed thrice in the game, the same number of times as Correa and Marcos Llorente. Nevertheless, it was a man-of-the-match display as he was the most influential player on the pitch before he was subbed off in the 87th minute.
#4 Jamal Musiala is a Bayern Munich star in the making
It’s not often that we say a 17-year-old was the brightest spark in a sorry-looking Bayern Munich attack until a certain Jamal Musiala came on late in the second half.
Musiala, who has been heralded as the next big star in Bayern Munich, showed he was up for the big game and took the challenge of facing a physical side like Atletico Madrid head-on.
Bayern Munich struggled to string passes in the final third, but every time Musiala had the ball, they looked like they could conjure something. The German starlet wasn’t afraid to use his skills and turned on the style in the first half with a La Croqueta that nearly created an opening for the Bavarians.
Only Douglas Costa (four) completed more dribbles than him (three) in the game, and he showed some substance, along with flair, to finish the game with three tackles.
Musiala was a bit worse for wear in the second half, but he can be forgiven for that as he hasn’t played too many games of this intensity in his relatively young career.