Bayern Munich have successfully edged past English champions Chelsea in their International Champions Cup friendly on Tuesday. The Bavarian somehow managed to hold on to their lead, but their win largely goes down to their explosive first half blitz, where they scored three goals within the half hour mark. Chelsea tried to bounce back, with goals from Marcos Alonso and Michy Batshuayi but at the end, it was too little too late for Antonio Conte’s men, who will look to improve his sides’ defensive awareness in the upcoming fixtures. Here are the Bayern Munich player ratings as they beat the Premier League champions 3:2.
Tom Starke(7/10): Wasn’t involved much in the first half as Chelsea had trouble in keeping up with the fluidic spell of possession from FC Bayern.
Rafinha(8.5/10): His role will in the Bayern team will significantly increase following the retirement of Philipp Lahm. Rafinha proved why Bayern already have an able Philipp Lahm replacement at their disposal with a very impressive performance against Chelsea. He was one of Bayern’s top players in the first half, where he also scored from a long range effort, beating Thibaut Courtois for the opener.
Javi Martinez(7/10): After an awful game against Milan, Javi Martinez also looked a little bit shaky at defence. His lack of pace was clearly evident as Chelsea players started to use that to their advantage in breaking the lock in defence.
Mats Hummels(7.5/10): For the most part of the game, Hummels was fairly okay. However, he lost sight of the ball, when Michy Batshuayi found time and space to tap the ball home for Chelsea’s second of the match.
Marco Friedl(7/10): Bayern’s latest academy product, Marco Friedl started on the left-hand side of the defence. He wasn’t as much active compared to Rafinha, especially in the first half.
Renato Sanches(8/10): Despite numerous transfer speculation, the Portuguese midfielder still started the game as a central midfielder. He looked much more confident against Chelsea and was involved in some neat build-up play. However, we firmly believe that he will still be on his out of the Allianz Arena before the transfer window shuts down. This can only be a positive sign for Manchester United.
Corentin Tolisso(8/10): Tolisso was another player, who was desperate to make his mark at his new club. He played very well alongside Renato Sanches, who complemented the former Lyon midfielder in build-up plays. He was taken off at the hour mark, however.
James Rodriguez(8/10): The Colombian was kind of impressive against Chelsea. His link-up play was good and created a few shooting opportunities for himself. In one notable occasion, he received a pass from Ribery at the edge of penalty area, but his shot was slightly wide of the goal.
Thomas Muller(9/10): Muller was perhaps Bayern’s most impressive player offensively. He spearheaded almost all of Bayern’s counter attacks and also secured a brace. The first goal came from a Ribery cross, where he perfectly volleyed the ball into the back of the net, while the second one was even more impressive as he perfectly placed the ball out of goalkeeper’s reach from 25 yards!
Franck Ribery(9/10): He was so unlucky not to get a goal for himself. Ribery completely wreaked havoc in the Chelsea defence, who were in tatters thanks to the explosive bursting runs from the Frenchman. He did assist Thomas Muller’s first goal whilst being involved in several other attacking moments for the Bavarians.
Robert Lewandowski(7.5/10): Lewandowski wasn’t involved in much of Bayern’s offensive play compared to Muller and Ribery. However, he did keep the backline fairly busy throughout the entire game. He was replaced by Kingsley Coman in the second half.
