MY ACCOUNT
Leroy Sane scored twice in an emphatic 5-0 win against Viktoria Plzen as Bayern Munich made it a record 31 Champions League group games without defeat.
Reigning Czech champions Viktoria are without a point at the midway stage in Group C and found themselves three goals down after 21 minutes at the Allianz Arena.
Serge Gnabry and Sadio Mane netted after Sane had opened the scoring in Tuesday’s contest as Bayern cruised towards a third win out of three in this season’s competition.
Sane’s second was swiftly followed by a strike from substitute Eric Choupo-Moting, with Bayern settling for five goals ahead of their big Bundesliga clash with Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern were without Thomas Muller and Joshua Kimmich, who tested positive for COVID-19, but were ahead inside seven minutes thanks to Sane’s powerful shot from 18 yards.
Gnabry, fielded through the centre of Bayern’s attack, slotted home a second six minutes later with a clinical finish after being played in by Leon Goretzka at the end of a counter.
Some poor Plzen defending allowed Mane to waltz through and score a third for Bayern, who had a Jamal Musiala goal ruled out before half-time due to an offside infringement.
Sane doubled his tally after controlling Mane’s pass with a sublime first touch and firing past Marian Tvrdon, with that proving to be his final meaningful act before being replaced.
It was left to Choupo-Moting to round off the scoring prior to the hour mark with a shot that went in off the post following another precise pass from Goretzka.
What does it mean? Brilliant Bayern march on
Bayern battled to 2-0 victories over Inter and Barcelona in their opening two group matches but this was plain sailing, the contest wrapped up with less than a quarter of it played.
The Bavarian giants have now won their opening three games in each of the past four Champions League campaigns, winning by an aggregate 46-7 scoreline.
This latest victory stretched their unbeaten run in the group stage to 31 matches, which is one more than Real Madrid managed before their streak came to an end in October 2017.
Sane sets the tone
Having scored in the wins over Inter and Barcelona, Sane became the second player after Robert Lewandowski to score in Bayern’s first three Champions League games.
The Germany international, replaced with a little over half an hour remaining, has now been directly involved in 16 goals in his past 12 Champions League starts for the club.
Mixed game for Mane
After ending a drought of 412 minutes without a goal in last week’s league win over Bayer Leverkusen, Mane got off the mark with his first European goal for Bayern.
But the ex-Liverpool forward will be disappointed to have only scored once, having had a game-high six shots, four of which were on target.
Key Opta Facts:
– Viktoria Plzen have conceded 56 goals in their 21 Champions League games, with their average of 2.7 conceded per game the highest of any side to play at least 20 times in the competition.
– This was the 26th time Bayern have scored at least five goals in a Champions League game, at least five more times than any other side (Barcelona, 21).
– In Mane and Choupo-Moting, this was the first time Bayern have had two different African players score for them in a single Champions League match.
– Mane scored his 25th Champions League goal, becoming the fourth African player to reach this milestone in the competition after Didier Drogba, Mohamed Salah and Samuel Eto’o.
– Five of Bayern forward Choupo-Moting’s eight Champions League goals have been as a substitute, with only Marco Asensio (eight) and Alvaro Morata (six) scoring more from the bench since his debut in the competition
What’s next?
Before the sides reconvene in the Czech Republic next week, Bayern have a big Klassiker showdown with Borussia Dortmund on Saturday and Plzen host Mlada Boleslav.
