Yahoo Finance Bayern Munich thrash Lazio 4-1 as Jamal Musiala and Robert Lewandowski make Champions League history
Jamal Musiala celebrates his historic night
(Getty Images)Jamal Musiala made Champions League history as Bayern Munich trounced Lazio 4-1 in the first leg of their round-of-16 on Tuesday night.
Musiala, 17, became the youngest English player to score in the Champions League, and the second-youngest player to score in the knockout stage of the competition when he netted Bayern’s second goal.
Robert Lewandowski had earlier given Bayern the lead and Leroy Sane put the defending champions firmly in control at the end of the first half. Francesco Acerbi netted an own goal at the start of the second half as Lazio’s first appearance in the knockout stage for 20 years went from bad to worse.
Joaquin Correa scored a consolation for the Italian side, which was woeful defensively - and they have a mountain to climb in the return leg on 17 March in Munich.
Bayern had made the trip to Rome without several players due to the coronavirus and injuries. That list included Thomas Muller, Douglas Costa, Benjamin Pavard, Serge Gnabry and Corentin Tolisso.
It was the first time Lazio had been in the knockout round since 2000/01 and its return got off to a nightmare start as a dreadful Mateo Musacchio back pass in the ninth minute was intercepted by Lewandowski, who slotted it into the empty net.
In doing so, Lewandowski became the Champions League’s third-highest scorer of all time with 72 goals; he passed Real Madrid striker Raul to reach a total only bettered by Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (119) and Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo (134).
Musiala had been handed a surprise start and he doubled Bayern’s lead in the 24th as the England youth international was left unmarked to fire into the bottom left corner after Leon Goretzka had flicked on Alphonso Davies’ pass from the left.
The game was all but over three minutes from halftime. Lazio goalkeeper Pepe Reina did well to parry Kingsley Coman’s attempt after a surging run from the France forward but Sane turned in the rebound.
And Lazio gifted Bayern another goal two minutes after the break when Acerbi turned Sane’s cross into his own net.
The only consolation for Lazio was Correa’s goal in the 49th minute. The Argentina midfielder scored a brilliant solo effort as he beat four Bayern players before firing past Manuel Neuer.
Additional reporting by AP.
