Champions League group stage recap: Bayern in full flow
Monday, February 14, 2022
Article summary
Six wins from six and a +19 goal difference were the measure of Bayern's superb UEFA Champions League group stage campaign.
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The only German team to survive the group stage, Bayern were nearly flawless over six matches and continue to show insatiable hunger to score goals.
Campaign so far
Group E winners: W6 D0 L0 F22 A3
Top scorer: Robert Lewandowski (9)
14/09: Barcelona 0-3 Bayern (Müller 34, Lewandowski 56 85)
29/09: Bayern 5-0 Dynamo Kyiv (Lewandowski 12pen 27, Gnabry 68, Sané 74, Choupo-Moting 87)
20/10: Benfica 0-4 Bayern (Sané 70 84, Everton 80og, Lewandowski 82)
02/11: Bayern 5-2 Benfica (Lewandowski 26 61 84, Gnabry 32, Sané 49; Morato 38, Nuñez 74)
23/11: Dynamo Kyiv 1-2 Bayern (Garmash 70; Lewandowski 14, Coman 42)
08/12: Bayern 3-0 Barcelona (Müller 34, Sané 43, Musiala 62)
Campaign in ten words: Scoring freely, hungry, and looking good for title number seven.
UEFA.com reporter's view
Despite injuries and illness, it has been plain sailing for Bayern results-wise, and they will be serious contenders in the spring if they can maintain this rhythm. The tactical ploys Julian Nagelsmann is implementing should become even more apparent as the campaign progresses
What we've learned
Bayern have been almost impossible to defend against at times, with goals coming from every angle. They brought a new level of creativity to set pieces, and possess a handful of free-kick specialists. They were solid defensively in the Champions League, but have occasionally looked more vulnerable in the Bundesliga.
Fantasy star performers
Leroy Sané – 65 points
Robert Lewandowski – 58 points
Alphonso Davies – 35 points
Squad changes
In: Jamal Musiala**, Lucas Copado*, Arijon Ibrahimovic*, Johannes Schenk*, Gabriel Vidović*, Paul Wanner*
Out: Mickaël Cuisance, Manuel Kainz, Lukas Schneller
*Registered to List B.
**Moved from List B to List A.
Clubs could register a maximum of three new eligible players prior to the knockout stage. Since 2018/19, it no longer matters whether those players have already played in the competition for another club, even for another club still in the competition.
Key stats
• During the group stage, Thomas Müller became just the eighth player to reach 50 UEFA Champions League goals (group stage to final).
• Bayern won all six of their group games for the second time in three seasons, having also done so in 2019/20, racking up an identical +19 goal difference.
• Bayern have scored two goals or more in each of their last 12 UEFA Champions League home matches.
