Goals: AS Roma—Gervinho 66'; Bayern Munich—Robben 8’, 30’ - Gotze 23’ - Lewandowski 25’ - Muller (penalty) 35’ - Ribery 78' - Shaqiri 80'
Recap: Ninety minutes of masterful football saw Bayern Munich defeat AS Roma 7-1 on Tuesday.
A scintillating piece of individual skill from Arjen Robben opened the affair just eight minutes in. A blitzkrieg of goals would follow. Finishes from Mario Gotze, Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller and Robben thwarted any chance of an AS Roma comeback. Before the half, the Italian outfit found itself trailing by an insurmountable 5-0 deficit.
An irrelevant response from Gervinho gave the home crowd something to celebrate, but any chance of a dignified performance dissipated after 35 minutes. Goals from Franck Ribery and Xherdan Shaqiri in the final 15 minutes of the match sealed the 7-1 victory.
Key Moment: To find one key moment in a 7-1 undressing is moot; however, the build-up play from Gotze and Muller in the 23rd minute did more than deflate a capacity crowd, it set the standard of professional football.
Man of the Match: Robben proved to be too much for Roma’s defense. The 30-year-old finished with a brace and an assist.
Lesson Learned: There’s a standard in Europe, especially in the UEFA Champions League. Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona have all met it in recent years. AS Roma entered the season with the ambition of joining the fray. On Tuesday, the club learned it’s not remotely close. From the onset, the hosts were given a footballing lesson. Advancing to the knockout rounds of the Champions League remains a possibility, but any dreams of hoisting the most-storied title in football should be disregarded.
Up Next: Both clubs return to league play, with AS Roma traveling to Sampdoria on Oct. 25 and Bayern Munich visiting Borussia Monchengladbach on Oct. 26.
Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (via WhoScored).
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