A first-half double from Serge Gnabry helped Bayern Munich qualify for their first Champions League final since 2013, with a 3-0 win against Lyon.
The German side were controlling possession from the onset but were in danger of a repeat performance served up by Manchester City on Saturday night, with Lyon routinely catching them out on the break in the opening quarter of an hour, and only the width of a post stopped them falling behind when Ekambi cut inside Alphonso Davies before rattling the woodwork from close-range.
Moments after Karl Toko Ekambi had hit the post for Lyon, Gnabry unleashed a thunderbolt of an effort past stranded Lyon goalkeeper, Anthony Lopes from twenty yards to open the scoring seventeen minutes in.
That turned the tide following the French side’s bright start, with Bayern suddenly in full control, and a second goal followed twelve minutes before the break when Robert Lewandowski’s slid effort was turned into Gnabry’s path by Lopes for the German to net a simple finish.
After half-time Toko Ekambi should have halved the deficit but fired straight at Manuel Neuer when one on one, before Lewandowski’s towering header from a Kimmich free-kick, his 55th goal of the season – proved the cherry on the cake as Bayern set up a Champions League final date with PSG.
Bayern Munich head coach, Hansi Flick already had his eye on the final and said his team must “defend better in the Champions League final” after earning a date with Paris Saint-Germain.
“They are strong tactically and they caused us problems early on. We know we need to defend better, we said before we couldn’t afford to give away the ball easily, but we did.”
“Paris are a great team, they fought their way into the semi-final and then reached the final. We will analyze some things, we know they have quick players,” added Flick
Lyon head coach, Garcia said he was unsure what was ahead, but felt his players proved their quality in the Champions League.
“I feel Bayern are a great team and they deserved the victory. The way they played, we have to congratulate them. It’s true we gave them some problems, but they scored that third goal and that finished off the match.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” he told a news conference. “What is clear after the success we’ve had here, an unexpected one, is this team would have deserved to make it even further, but it’s difficult to answer this question. We have a great squad and we’ll see.”
Lyon forward Karl Toko Ekambi added, “We’re thinking we could have done better and could have scored some goals before they did. Luck wasn’t on our side. We missed chances and were up against a great side. We found out they were unbeatable.”
Bayern Munich will play in the final of the European Cup/Champions League for the 11th time in the club’s history
