Salzburg 1-1 Bayern: Coman denies Austrian side at the last

Bayern left it late as Kingsley Coman's last-minute tap-in cancelled out Chikwubuike Adamu's first-half goal to deny Salzburg a famous UEFA Champions League victory in this round of 16 first leg.

Match in brief: Coman comes to the rescue

Salzburg's hopes suffered an early blow when Noah Okafor limped off but they responded in perfect fashion, replacement Adamu rounding off a flowing counterattack with a well-struck finish that belied his 20 years.

Salzburg's Chikwubuike Adamu celebrates after making it 1-0AFP via Getty Images

Sven Ulreich, deputising for the injured Manuel Neuer, did well to deny Brenden Aaronson soon after as Bayern rocked. They hung on – just about – and emerged for the second half with renewed purpose.

The visitors laid siege to the home goal but they were met with a wall of white, brilliantly marshalled by shot magnet Oumar Solet. Even when the wall was breached, with 15 minutes left, Philipp Köhn pulled off a brilliant double save to deny Leroy Sané and Serge Gnabry. At the other end, only a fine Benjamin Pavard block prevented Adamu making it two.

One still looked like being enough but, at the death, Coman tapped in Thomas Müller's header.

PlayStation® Player of the Match: Mohamed Camara (Salzburg)

"A leader on the pitch, excellent up and down, fast in transitions and strong in one-on-ones. His reading of the game was brilliant."
UEFA Technical Observer panel

Jürgen Baumgartner, Salzburg reporter

Salzburg were making history by merely being in the round of 16 but they so nearly marked their debut with a win for the ages, pushing one of the big title favourites all the way.

The hosts played with bucketloads of passion and commitment, and caused problems again and again with their quick counterattacks. Their defence performed commendably – and so nearly kept Bayern at bay.

Jordan Maciel, Bayern reporter

Relief etched on their faces: Bayern celebrate their equaliserGetty Images

Bayern's record-breaking unbeaten run away from home continues... just. Following a disappointing first half, Julian Nagelsmann's side raised their game in the second period and scraped a late, but deserved draw.

The six-time winners will be in the driving seat when the two sides meet again in three weeks but they'll need a much-improved performance to live up to their reputation as one of the tournament favourites.

Reaction

Chikwubuike Adamu, Salzburg scorer: "The goal was unbelievable, exactly as I dreamed yesterday. But unfortunately it wasn't enough for the win. We have such a great team. We will give everything in the second leg. This tie is not decided yet."

Joshua Kimmich, Bayern midfielder: "In the first half we weren't switched on enough to win the second balls, which kept giving Salzburg dangerous opportunities on the counter. We controlled the game better in the second half and applied more pressure. In the end we got the draw, which is fine for me."

Thomas Müller, Bayern forward: "We have mixed feelings. Salzburg are a good team and the atmosphere was amazing. Compliments to the fans, that's how you want football to be. The conditions were great, which made it fun even though we suffered. Hats off to us for grinding out the 1-1 draw."

Andreas Ulmer, Salzburg defender: "It doesn't feel so good at the moment after conceding the equaliser. When we take a look back, we can be proud of the performance we put in though."

Key stats

• Bayern are a competition record 22 Champions League away games unbeaten (W17 D5), dating back to September 2017 when they lost 3-0 to Paris.

• Adamu's 21st-minute goal was the earliest by a substitute in a Champions League game since Thierry Henry struck in the same minute for Arsenal against Sparta Praha in October 2005.

Chikwubuike Adamu wheels awayAFP via Getty Images

• The average age of Salzburg's starting XI was just 23 years and 242 days, while coach Matthias Jaissle is only 33.

Fantasy star performers

Mohamed Camara – 7 points
Chikwubuike Adamu – 7 points
Brenden Aaronson – 6 points
Kingsley Coman – 6 points

Line-ups

Salzburg: Köhn; Kristensen, Solet, Wöber, Ulmer; Camara; Capaldo, Aaronson, Seiwald (Sučić 80); Okafor (Adamu 12), Adeyemi (Kjærgaard 87)

Bayern: Ulreich; Pavard, Süle, Hernández; Gnabry (Choupo-Moting 77), Kimmich, Tolisso (Sabitzer 80), Coman; Müller, Sané; Lewandowski