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An underwhelming night in Austria for RB Salzburg saw them thrashed at the hands of Bayern Munich, conceding six goals and scoring only two. Jesse Marsch's men capitulated as Bayern Munich put four past goalkeeper Cican Stanković in the second half, with three of them coming in the final 15 minutes of the game.
After a dominating start to the fixture, RB Salzburg were deservedly leading for 15 minutes of the first half. But a Robert Lewandowski goal from the spot, and an unfortunate own goal by Rasmus Kristensen, meant that Bayern Munich went into half time leading against the Austrian champions.
Salzburg scored the first goal of the second half, as substitute Masaya Ogukawa dispatched a bottom corner shot past Manuel Neuer in the 66th minute, equalizing for the home side. However, the European Champions eventually showed grit and mentality to gradually take the game away from Salzburg.
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#5 Depth and experience comes handy for Bayern Munich
For a good 60 minutes of the game, RB Salzburg kept Bayern at bay. The home side out-shot Hansi Flick's men in the first half, taking 7 shots from inside the box against Bayern Munich's 5.
However, Bayern's substitutes changed the game drastically. After Salzburg's equalizer in the second half, Flick decided to bring on Bouna Sarr, Leroy Sane, and Javi Martinez as the Bayern boss was determined to leave with three points.
In the next 10 minutes after the changes, Jerome Boateng's header and a brilliant Leroy Sane finish saw Bayern Munich take a 4-2 lead. Soon, Martinez set up Lewandowski for the fifth goal of the night, followed by Hernandez finishing from close range to make it 6.
Bayern's bench came to the rescue as Sarr and Sane ran riot on the right flank, despite playing for a very brief amount of time. Martinez provided extra cover for his forwards as Bayern finished the job in style.
#4 Winning games without playing well is a habit developed by the best
Bayern Munich were dominated by RB Salzburg for the majority of the game. Manuel Neuer was kept busy at the back by Dominik Szboszlai, Mergim Berisha, and Sekou Koita as the visitors struggled to contain Salzburg.
The home side was not only quick during transition, but seemed to always find space between Bayern's midfield and defense, often splitting Joshua Kimmich and Corentin Tolisso with ease. Bayern missed Leon Goretzka's off-ball positioning as Salzburg bypassed Bayern's midfield in the early minutes of the game.
However, Bayern Munich grew into the second half in prime fashion. Despite letting Okugawa score the equalizer, they made sure to limit Neuer's work in the second half, allowing only six shots. Later, a few subs and higher intensity from the away side was too much for Salzburg as they choked under the pressure.
#3 Joshua Kimmich continues his fine form across all competitions
Joshua Kimmich made a case for being the best midfielder in the world at the moment, with another immense display. The 25-year-old orchestrated the midfield for the Bavarians despite the absence of his compatriot Goretzka, and made sure his team left with 3 points in the bag.
Setting up the winner for Boateng, and assisting the fourth goal of the night scored by Sane, Kimmich was arguably the most important player on the pitch for Bayern Munich.
A masterclass performance from the German saw him leave with a stat line of70 touches, 92% passing accuracy, 5 key passes played, 7 long balls, 6 ground duels won, and a combined 6 tackles & interceptions.
#2 RB Salzburg, winless in their first three UCL fixtures, sit at the bottom of Group A
In a group consisting of Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid, qualifying for the knockouts stages of the Champions League was always going to be a tough challenge for the Austrian champions.
Jesse Marsch's side is winless in their opening three games, and sit fourth on the table below Lokomotiv Moscow, who currently look the favorites to qualify for the Europa League. Their domestic form has been immaculate, but Marsch needs to find a remedy to ensure his team don't drop out of Europe entirely.
Scoring 6 goals while conceding 11, Salzburg do not find themselves in the best position going into the international break. However, Lokomotiv Moscow visit Atletico and Bayern for 2 of their next 3 games, so Salzburg could potentially have a window to overtake them for the 3rd spot.
#1 Robert Lewandowski opens his Champions League account
With 2 goals on the night, Robert Lewandowski ended his 2-game drought in the Champions League, which is a long time for him on current form. He scored a header and a penalty last night to contribute to the thrashing of RB Salzburg.
Bayern Munich sit at the top of Group A with a 100% win record in the first three games, conceding only 3 and scoring a staggering 12 goals, but Lewandowski has scored only 2 of those. He was the top scorer of the Champions League last year.
Quite opposite to what his European form is, the Polish striker has 10 goals in only 5 games in the Bundesliga. Hansi Flick has been efficient with his rotations, as Lewandowski has seen the bench quite a lot in this tight fixture list, but he will certainly continue to be the first name on the team sheet on Tuesday nights.
With an away trip to Wanda Metropolitano on the cards now, Robert Lewandowski will look to build on the two goals he scored yesterday, as Atletico seek revenge.
