Bayern win 2-0 at Atlético: Karl and Laimer score after the break and Bayern climb into the top eight

Match report. Read the preview →

Bayern Munich beat Atlético Madrid 2-0 at the Metropolitano on Tuesday 3 November, in the fourth round of the Champions League’s league phase. Lennart Karl scored the first goal after 54 minutes and Konrad Laimer the second after 74. Bayern went to Madrid without their head coach Vincent Kompany, who is ill, and without Jamal Musiala, Luis Díaz, Serge Gnabry and Saibari, and still won without conceding a goal. They have eight points from four games and have not lost in Europe this season.

How it happened

The first half had no goals. According to Bundesliga.com’s report, Julián Álvarez had Atlético’s best early chance in the second minute and missed narrowly. Bundesliga.com also lists Karl shooting over after Dayot Upamecano had set him up after 23 minutes, and Harry Kane missing narrowly with a scissor kick after 27. Sky Sports’ commentary of the first half adds an Álvarez shot from more than 35 yards after 20 minutes that went wide. It was 0-0 at half-time.

The opening goal came nine minutes after the restart. Tom Bischof shot from distance, Atlético blocked the ball badly, and it ran to Karl, who lifted it over Oblak as the goalkeeper came off his line. Bundesliga.com headlined its report on him: “Karl der Gedankenschnelle”, Karl the quick thinker. Joshua Kimmich was booked three minutes later for delaying an Atlético restart, and Diego Simeone made three changes at once after 59 minutes.

Bayern nearly scored a second after 73 minutes, when Upamecano’s long-range shot hit the crossbar. A minute later they did. Kane played Laimer through inside the area and Laimer shot under the bar for 0-2. Kane went into the game having scored in ten Champions League games in a row, as our preview noted; on this night he made a goal rather than scoring one.

Atlético had the ball in the net after 81 minutes, a header from a corner that was first given as an own goal by Upamecano, but the goal was ruled out for a foul, as Bundesliga.com words it. Josip Stanišić was booked in stoppage time for a push on Giuliano Simeone, and that was the last entry of note.

What it changes

Bayern move up to eighth in the 36-team table with eight points: two wins, two draws, no defeats, and seven more goals scored than conceded. The top eight go straight to the last 16 in the spring; places nine to 24 go into a play-off round in February. Half the clubs have played only three games so far, so the order will change again after Wednesday’s nine matches.

Atlético stay on four points and sit 22nd after four games: one win, one draw and two defeats. That is inside the play-off places for now, but only just, and four of their remaining games are still to come.

Both clubs are back in their leagues at the weekend. Bayern go to Mainz on Saturday 7 November at 15:30 CET. Atlético host Barcelona on Sunday 8 November at 21:00 CET.

What the market said

A betting price is a crowd’s opinion written as a number, and dividing 1 by the price gives a rough chance. The last price BettingBeast’s feed captured before kick-off, at 20:23 CET, made Bayern the favourite at 2.12, about a 47% chance. Atlético were 3.44, about a 29% chance, and the draw 4.05, about 25%. Bayern, the favourite, won. The goals line was 3.5, with over at 2.32 and under at 1.85, and the game had two goals.

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