Olympique Lyonnaise 0 Bayern Munich 3 – Lewandowski Nets again

Bayern Munich stride into Champions League final; set up clash with PSG

2019-20 UEFA Champions League semi-finals round-up

Olympique Lyonnaise 0 Bayern Munich 3 Review

Bayern Munich continued their relentless march to the finals when they brushed aside upstarts Olympique Lyonnaise 3-0 at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon on Wednesday night.

The Bundesliga giants did experience some anxious moments with Lyon surprisingly coming hammer and tongs at them in the first 15 minutes.

The French side who had stunned heavyweights Juventus and Manchester City in the previous rounds attacked from both flanks and should have scored but Karl Toko Ekambi's close-range effort hit the post.

How costly this miss could be was proved a little later when Serge Gnabry took Joshua Kimmich's floated ball, dinked past a couple of defenders and unleashed a spectacular left-footer from 20 yards that tore into the top corner of the net.

Bayern looked their normal selves now after the opener in the 17th minute. Gnabry and Robert Lewandowski both wasted easy chances before the pair combined for the second goal.

Ivan Perisic's cross was guided goalwards by Lewandowski but keeper Anthony Lopes' block fell into the path of a waiting Gnabry who stabbed home to double his and his side's tally in the 33rd minute.

Going 0-2 down into the first half, Rudi Garcia's men regrouped post interval and let their opponents know that they still had some fight left in them.

Houssem Aouar was seen picking out Ekambi on the right of the box with a perfect pass, but the forward was denied room to fire in his shot by an onrushing Manuel Neuer as another fine chance went abegging.

Garcia then introduced Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Tete in place of Ekambi and Leo Dubois to add fresh legs to Lyon's game.

Tete along with Houssem Aouar, Memphis Depay and Maxwell Cornet were able to put pressure on the Bayern goal once again but the rival defense was capable enough to see off any fresh trouble.

Barcelona loanee Philippe Coutinho, introduced a little past the hour by Hansi Flick seemed to have made an impact immediately when he touched in Thomas Muller's threaded pass but was denied by an offside flag.

With the game drifting away from Lyon, the French club's task was made impossible barely a minute-and-a-half remaining, as Lewandowski rose easily above defender Marcal to nod in Kimmich's free-kick.

As for Bayern's overall performance in Wednesday's outing, it was a much more muted performance than the 8-2 demolition of Barcelona with the German giants riding their luck early in the game.

The Bundesliga champs now face Paris St Germain in a mouthwatering contest at the Estadio da Luz on the night of 23rd August.

Bayern Munich will play in the final of a major European tournament for the 11th time in the club's history equalling AC Milan's record and only 5 behind Real Madrid's 16 appearances.

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