Final, 1-0 Bayern Munich: It’s over at the Allianz Arena. Boateng’s dramatic, late goal wins it.
Boateng gave the game the finish it was crying out for. Bayern Munich and Manchester City set the stage for a barnstorming finish with a tight and entertaining first half, but the second stanza failed to build on the first 45 minutes. It looked like the game would peter out, making fans settle for a goalless draw. As the clock ticked toward the 90-minute mark, Boateng beat Hart with a special strike. Only a goal of that quality was going to pass by the Manchester City goalkeeper, who was in inspired form on this day.
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Bayern Munich outplayed Manchester City from start to finish, but the visitors are a seasoned, battle-tested bunch who can win pretty or grind out results at home and in Europe. Manchester City nearly earned a valuable road point, but its creaky defense finally broke at the last moment.
Had Manchester City had more of the ball and showed more attacking intent in the second half, it might have left Germany with that point or more. Instead, Manchester City is smarting from the sucker punch that is this defeat.
The three points put Bayern Munich in second place in Group B — AS Roma beat CSKA Moscow 5-1 in the other game. Manchester City is third. The teams will switch their focus to domestic concerns.
The next round of Champions League games begins on Sept. 30. Bayern Munich will travel to Moscow, while Manchester City will host Roma.
That’s all for now and thanks for joining us. Let’s discuss this one on Twitter @NESNsoccer and Facebook. Be sure to keep an eye out for some news, fan reactions, analysis and opinion that is on the way on NESN.com.
90th minute, 1-0 Bayern Munich: Boateng gets it right this time, and there’s nothing Hart can do about it.
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Manchester City failed to clear its lines, and the ball came to Boateng at the top of the penalty area. The Bayern Munich center back then volleyed it inside the far post.
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Boateng came back and haunted his old team.
88th minute, 0-0: Boateng launches a powerful shot at goal, and Hart dives to his left to make the save.
It was the best of the bunch from the Manchester City goalkeeper.
88th minute, 0-0: Manchester City makes its final change. Kolarov replaces Navas.
85th minute, 0-0: Guardiola makes his final substitution. Dante replaces Benatia.
84th minute, 0-0: Bayern Munich makes an attack-minded substitution, bringing on Pizarro for Rafinha.
Lahm probably will drop from the midfield into the right-back slot for the last few minutes of the game.
80th minute, 0-0: Robben is darting around the Manchester City penalty area and goes down after making contact with Milner and Fernandinho.
Robben and the crowd want a penalty kick, but the referee declines their requests.
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77th minute, 0-0: Demichelis is cautioned for fouling Gotze. Three of Manchester City’s four defenders now have yellow cards.
76th minute, 0-0: Bayern Munich is making a change, bringing Robben on for Muller.
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74th minute, 0-0: Aguero is coming for Dzeko, as Manchester City makes its second substitution.
70th minute, 0-0: The game has hit a slight lull, but Bayern Munich fans, have raised a banner in support of defender Holger Badstuber after the center back was felled by yet another injury.
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65th minute, 0-0: Clichy is cautioned for a professional foul on Rafhina.
Clichy stopped a counter-attack by tripping the Bayern Munich fullback.
62nd minute, 0-0: Benatia heads Alonso’s corner kick over Hart’s crossbar, as Bayern Munich fails to capitalize on the pressure it is applying on Manchester City.
60th minute, 0-0: There’s a nervous moment in Manchester City’s penalty area.
Hart missed a cross from the right. It floated to Bernat on the left, and the Bayern fullback hit a shot (or cross) toward goal, which the recovering Hart parried over the crossbar.
58th minute, 0-0: Manchester City makes its first substitution. Milner comes on for Nasri.
55th minute, 0-0: Gotze skillfully volleys a shot on goal, but Hart dives and saves it without a problem.
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52nd minute, 0-0: Lahm hits a low drive from 25 yards out that goes wide of the diving Hart’s goal.
The second half has opened evenly, as the teams are sharing possession and territory. The game’s tempo remains high.
46th minute, 0-0: The second half is underway.
Halftime, 0-0: The first half is over. It’s goal-less.
We expected this game to be competitive and played at a high level, and it has lived up to its billing. Bayern Munich has enjoyed the better of play, but Hart has matched everything the Germans have thrown his way.
Bayern has created a number of quality scoring chances with its precision passing and tactical flexibility.
Hart’s saves on Muller, Gotze and Alaba, combined with Muller and Lewandowski’s misses have preserved the level score-line.
Manchester City isn’t out of it by any means. Its defense has been somewhat creaky but it has threatened Bayern Munich on the counter attack. Sagna and Dzeko have forced Neuer into action.
Manchester City is benefiting from its physical advantage, as Navas, Toure and Sagna have been dangerous on counter-attacks and set pieces.
45th minute, 0-0: Kompany is cautioned for a foul on Muller.
41st minute, 0-0: Dzeko is cautioned for a foul on Lewandowski.
Dzeko might have hurt himself while making the challenge. The Manchester City striker is on the sidelines receiving treatment on his back.
40th minute, 0-0: Sagna leaps and heads Nasri’s corner kick on target, but Neuer punches it away from the top-left corner of his goal.
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36th minute, 0-0: Lewandowski shoots into the side netting, like Muller, after Alaba sends him in behind the defense with a perfectly placed through-ball.
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32nd minute, 0-0: Alaba has moved into the midfield and tests Hart once again. His latest shot is on target but goes straight to the Manchester City goalkeeper.
31st minute, 0-0: Alaba takes a quick, left-footed shot from 25 yards out, but it misses the target.
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29th minute, 0-0: Dzeko tries another shot from outside the penalty area but drags it wide of Neuer’s goal.
27th minute, 0-0: After nearly 30 minutes, this competitive game still is goalless.
Bayern Munich has the lion’s share of possession, but Manchester City threatens going forward. Alonso and Lahm are doing well to dictate the tempo of the game, but they’re not offering enough resistance when Manchester City launches counter-attacks. Navas, Silva, Toure and Dzeko are reaching Bayern’s back line too easily.
22nd minute, 0-0: Toure leads a Manchester City counter-attack, which ends when Dzeko bends a shot inches wide of Neuer’s goal.
21st minute, 0-0: Hart comes to Manchester City’s rescue again. Gotze shot from almost point-blank range, but Hart reacted quickly and turned it away.
19th minute, 0-0: Hart makes a wonderful save on Muller’s header.
Bernat drove a cross toward the penalty spot. Muller arrived first, beating Clichy, and delivered a flashing header on target. Hart batted it away with a reflex save.
13th minute, 0-0: Neuer makes a save at the near post.
Dzeko slipped in behind the defense (courtesy of Silva’s through-ball) and shot from an impossibly tight angle. Bayern Munich immediately cleared the danger.
10th minute, 0-0: Bayern Munich has dominated possession so far, as Lahm, Alonso and the defenders have passed the ball freely among themselves, while Manchester City applies little pressure in the midfield.
Fourth minute, 0-0: Bayern Munich is, in fact, playing with five defenders. Bernat and Rafinha are the left and right wing-backs, respectively, while Alaba, Boateng and Benatia man the middle.
Lahm and Alonso are the defensive midfielders, Gotze and Muller are ahead of them, and Lewandowski leads the attack by himself.
It’s a versatile system that Guardiola can shift into a four-back formation at any moment.
First minute, 0-0: Bayern races out of the gates and nearly scores just seconds after kickoff.
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Muller and Lewandowski combined at the top of Manchester City’s penalty area to send the former in alone on Hart’s goal. Sagna’s challenge disrupted Muller’s balance, and the German shot into the side netting.
Muller wanted a penalty kick, claiming Sagna then Hart made contact, but the referee wasn’t interested in his appeal.
Kickoff: Bayern Munich-Manchester City is underway from the Allianz Arena.
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Pregame: Â Bayern Munich’s attack gives the world a potential glimpse into its future, as it doesn’t contain Robben, 30, and Ribery, 31.
Gotze, Muller and Bernat are likely to play behind Lewandowski, while veterans Alonso and Lahm will orchestrate from deep in the midfield.
Summer signing Benatia starts ahead of Dante, while Robben also will begin the game on the bench.
Bayern Munich is in the midst of an injury crisis, but the names in their starting 11 show the wealth of strength that exists in the squad Guardiola has assembled.
Toure starts for Manchester City, as expected. It looks like he will play next to Fernandinho and behind Nasri, Navas and Silva.
Sagna and Clichy will be key to Manchester City’s efforts. They must join the attack when possible, forcing Gotze and Bernat to track back in defense. The Manchester City fullbacks also must communicate with their teammates, as the Bayern wingers often cut inside and offer themselves as central options.
2:15 p.m.: Here are the lineups:
Bayern Munich
Manuel Neuer (1), goalkeeper
David Alaba (27), left back
Mehdi Benatia (5), center back
Jerome Boateng (17), center back
Rafinha (13), right back
Philipp Lahm (21), midfielder
Xabi Alonso (3), midfielder
Juan Bernat (18), midfielder
Mario Gotze (19), midfielder
Thomas Muller (25), forward
Robert Lewandowski (9), striker
Substitutes
Pepe Reina (23), goalkeeper
Dante (4), defender
Sebastian Rode (20), midfielder
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (34), midfielder
Xherdan Shaqiri (11), forward
Arjen Robben (10), forward
Claudio Piazarro (14), forward
Manchester City
Joe Hart (1), goalkeeper
Gael Clichy (22), left back
Vincent Kompany (4), center back
Martin Demichelis (26), center back
Bacary Sagna (3), right back
Fernandinho (25), midfielder
Yaya Toure (42), midfielder
Samir Nasri (8), midfielder
Jesus Navas (15), midfielder
David Silva (21), midfielder
Edin Dzeko (10), striker
Substitutes
Willy Caballero (13), goalkeeper
Dedryck Boyata (38), defender
Eliaquim Mangala (20), defender
Aleksander Kolarov (11), defender
Frank Lampard (18), midfielder
James Milner (7), midfielder
Sergio Aguero (16), striker
11:30 a.m. ET: The first heavyweight clash of the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League is upon us.
Bayern Munich hosts Manchester City in Group E of the Champions League on Wednesday at the Allianz Arena. The reigning champions of Germany’s Bundesliga (first division) and England’s Premier League meet in the marquee matchup of all the group stage games.
Bayern Munich enters the Champions League for the second time under head coach Pep Guardiola, and the Spanish tactician knows his team must mount another challenge for the title after last season’s disappointing semifinal exit.
Bayern Munich has a host of stars at its disposal, including 2014 FIFA World Cup winners Manuel Neuer, Philipp Lahm, Jerome Boateng, Mario Gotze and Thomas Muller. Midfielder Xabi Alonso and forward Robert Lewandowski are likely to make their first Champions League appearances for Bayern Munich following their summer transfers from Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, respectively. However, winger Franck Ribery and midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger won’t play due to injury, and Arjen Robben is doubtful.
Manchester City finally reached the knockout round of the Champions League last season. Owner Sheik Mansour has challenged his star-studded team to win European soccer’s most prestigious trophy this time around.
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini will watch from the stands as he serves a one-game suspension. Pellegrini’s assistant Ruben Cousillas will roam the technical area. Bacaray Sagna is expected to make his Champions League debut for Manchester City after joining from Arsenal this summer. Sagna will replace the suspended Pablo Zabaleta on Manchester City’s back line. Yaya Toure should return to the prominence in the midfield. The Ivorian sat out Manchester City’s 2-2 draw against Arsenal on Saturday after returning late from international duty. Strikers Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko will pose a constant threat to Bayern Munich around the penalty area.
Bayern Munich-Manchester City kicks off at 2:45 p.m. Stay right here for all the action from the Allianz Arena.
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