(Football news) Barcelona were once again defeated by Bayern Munich 2-0. Julian Nagelsmann started in a 4-2-3-1 with Matthijs De Ligt on bench as Lucas Hernandez and Dayot Upamecano started in defence. Marcel Sabitzer was preferred in midfield over Leon Goretzka. Xavi on the other hand gave Marcos Alonso his first Barcelona start as he benched Jordi Alba. Eric Garcia was also left on the bench as was Frenkie De Jong. Barcelona didn't let the past haunt them as they completely dominated the first half. Bayern Munich were not able to play out from the back at all. The Blaugrana had 3 very good chances to take the lead but weren't clinical enough. The home side had to often rely on long balls to just challenge the Barcelona defence.
Nagelsmann responded to a poor first half with a change at the break as he brought on Goretzka to replace Sabitzer. The Blaugrana ended up regretting their missed chances as Bayern scored in the 51st minute against the run of play. Joshua Kimmich's corner was headed home by Hernandez to give Bayern the lead. Three minutes later, Leroy Sane ran past the Barcelona back line to double Bayern's advantage. Barcelona played really well but weren't clinical enough in front of goal. Midfielder Pedri missed two great chances which should have been taken while Lewandowski also missed one.
Bayer Leverkusen stunned Atletico Madrid to win 2-0 at home. Atleti were the clear favourites to win the match as Leverkusen had won 1, lost 6 and drawn 1 games this season. Diego Simeone started with Yannick Carrasco on the bench while Reinildo, who usually plays centre back, played at left wing back. Jan Oblak didn't recover from his injury and Ivo Grbic started between the sticks. The game was very cagey with both teams struggling to test the opposition keeper. The first real chance of the match came in the 48th minute as Patrick Schick chipped Grbic but only managed to hit the crossbar. Adam Hlozek pounced on the rebound and headed it onto the post. 21 minutes later Schick rounded the Atletico keeper but hit the side netting as the home side were knocking on the door. Right back Jeremie Frimpong came on as a substitute in the 79th minute and changed the game as he assisted Robert Andrich and Moussa Diaby in the 84th and 87th minute to seal an important win for Leverkusen.
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