Bayern Munich beaten by Lazio in Champions League; Harry Kane: ‘Really tough week’

0
47

Bayern Munich were beaten 1-0 by Lazio in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie as Thomas Tuchel’s side suffered back-to-back defeats in all competitions.

The loss follows Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Bundesliga title rivals Bayer Leverkusen which left the club five points behind Xabi Alonso’s side at the league summit.

Lazio, currently seventh in Serie A, were 1-0 winners at the Stadio Olimpico thanks to Ciro Immobile’s second-half penalty.

The hosts were awarded a spot kick following a late, studs up challenge from Dayot Upamecano on Gustav Isaksen. Upamecano was shown a straight red card and Immobile subsequently converted the penalty after 69 minutes, sending Manuel Neuer the wrong way.

Bayern enjoyed more possession on the night and registered 17 shots to Lazio’s 11, but failed to muster an effort on target.

The Bundesliga side must overcome the one-goal deficit in the second leg at the Allianz Arena on March 5 or face a first season without a major trophy since 2011-12.

Bayern have won each of the most recent 11 German titles but sit second in the Bundesliga, and were eliminated from the DFB Pokal by third tier Saarbrucken in September.

Tuchel’s side return to action on Sunday with a trip to VfL Bochum.

Kane: Bayern lacked energy and confidence

Harry Kane said Bayern lacked energy and confidence as their defeat to Lazio capped a “really tough week”.

Kane has 28 goals in 28 appearances since his summer move from Tottenham but has not scored in four of his last six outings after sending a first-half chance over the bar on Wednesday. He backed his side to turn their fortunes around.

“Really tough week,” Kane told TNT Sports. “I thought the game today, in the first half we started well, we had some clear chances: one myself. In these games, they’re big moments. But the second half was disappointing. We came out with less energy, less confidence, too many balls given away. Ultimately we got punished. Once you go down to 10 men it’s always difficult to get back into the game.

“For us we have to find it amongst ourselves; we have to find more energy, more confidence. We’re still in the race for the Bundesliga, we’re still in the race for this tie. We have to keep fighting and look forward and hopefully turn this momentum around.

He continued: “We’re in a difficult spell, there’s no hiding that, but we have to fight and turn it around.

“We have big games, we have big things to fight for, we’re not out of it, we’ll never give up. One game or one spark can change a lot in football, and we just need to find that.”

(FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images)



Read the full article here

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here