Bayern Munich defeated Inter Milan 2-0 at San Siro in their Champions League opener, thanks to a first-half goal from Leroy Sane and an own goal from Danilo D’Ambrosio.
The visitors dominated the first half and deservedly took the lead through Sane, who brilliantly brought down a long ball from Joshua Kimmich before rounding Andre Onana and drilling home.
Inter put more pressure on Julian Nagelsmann’s side in the second half, but D’Ambrosio’s clumsy attempt to block a Sane shot ended the game and gave Bayern all three points.
Bayern has now won their last 19 Champions League openers, paving the way for what they hope will be qualification from a difficult Group C.
Early on, both goalkeepers had to work hard, with Thomas Muller testing Onana and D’Ambrosio stinging Manuel Neuer’s palms.
Muller forced more good saves from Onana, but Inter’s goalkeeper was beaten in the 25th minute when Sane maintained his cool after latching onto Kimmich’s pass.
Bayern could have scored again before halftime, but Onana saved an Alphonso Davies shot before Muller fired the rebound wide.
After the restart, Edin Dzeko should have equalised for Inter, but instead fired a low drive straight at Neuer.
However, any hopes of an Inter comeback were dashed when D’Ambrosio turned Sane’s slightly erroneous effort into his own net.
Sane almost had an assist when he set up substitute Serge Gnabry late in the game, but the winger blazed over from a good position as Bayern settled for a two-goal lead.
What does it imply? Bayern Munich is off to a flying start in Europe.
The German champions deserved their victory, attempting 21 shots to their opponent’s nine and hitting the target 11 times.
Inter couldn’t stop Bayern, and as far as European away days against another continental heavyweight go, this one was as easy as they come.
Kimmich’s inventiveness
Sane was Bayern’s standout performer, but he was challenged for the honor by Kimmich, who was superb at the heart of midfield.
The Germany international completed 93.6 percent (75/81) of his attempted passes, including a sublime assist for Sane’s opener, and won possession seven times.
Dumfries falls short.
Denzel Dumfries did not have his best performance in an Inter jersey, giving up possession a team-high 16 times.
Dumfries managed just one successful tackle against Sane and barely posed a threat going the other way, with neither of his two open-play crosses proving successful.
Important Opta Facts
- Bayern Munich has won all four competitive away games against Inter.
- Inter have lost consecutive Champions League home games for only the second time in their history, also between February and September 2011. (three in a row).
- Since a 3-2 loss to Inter in March 2011, Bayern has gone unbeaten in their last 11 Champions League matches against Italian teams (W9 D2).
- Only Roy Makaay (10 appearances) and Robert Lewandowski (16 appearances) have scored 10 Champions League goals in fewer Bayern appearances than Sane (19 apps).
- D’Ambrosio became the sixth Inter player in Champions League history to score an own goal.
What comes next?
Inter will play Torino in Serie A on Saturday, while Bayern will play Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on the same day.