Mueez Ajao
– Bayern Munich completed a perfect group stage by beating fellow qualifiers Internazionale 2-0 thanks to goals from Benjamin Pavard and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in their final Group C game.
– Bayern ended top on 18 points, eight ahead of second-placed Inter with both teams having already reached the knockout stage.
– Barcelona finished third on seven points, eliminated in the group stage and having to settle for a Europa League place for the second year in a row.
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– With Bayern and Inter having nothing riding on the game, it was an affair that won’t live long in the memory.
– Having won their last six games in all competitions and with Group C top spot already secured, Bayern’s Julian Nagelsmann rested several regulars and Inter were better at the beginning.
– They pressed the hosts early and complained about a handball inside the area by a Bayern defender at the beginning of the first half, but after checking the pitchside monitor the referee decided there was no infringement.
– Inter could have scored first in the 27th minute if Lautaro Martinez had not missed a sitter. Robin Gosens made a great run down the left and delivered a perfect low cross to the Argentine, who ballooned his close-range finish over an empty goal.
– In the very next move, Pavard did score for Bayern with a header from a perfectly placed Joshua Kimmich corner.
– Bayern took control, but only extended their lead midway through the second half when Choupo-Moting drilled an unstoppable long-range strike into the top right corner.
– The Cameroon striker has six goals and two assists in the last five games for Bayern in all competitions.
