Bayern Munich appears on Track for the Champions League quarter-finals after Serge Gnabry and Robert Lewandowski dismantled Chelsea.
Serge Gnabry starred as Bayern Munich captured control of the Champions League last-16 tie against Chelsea with a resounding 3-0 win at the opening leg at Stamford Bridge.
Following a dominant opening half where Thomas Muller struck the crossbar, the Bundesliga leaders — facing Chelsea for the first time since losing to the Blues at the 2012 closing — took the game away from their hosts in the space of three second-half minutes.
Gnabry, who scored four in a 7-2 rout over Tottenham at Bayern’s last trip to London, netted a brace when double combining brilliantly with Robert Lewandowski, who obtained Bayern’s third with 14 minutes remaining.
With Bayern in the ascendency before the return fixture on home soil, Chelsea’s misery was compounded when Marcos Alonso was sent off late on.
Maintaining his place at Chelsea’s lineup at Kepa Arrizabalaga’s cost, Willy Caballero had a save to make in the first minute when he kept out Muller’s strike.
Muller turned supplier 10 minutes later with a brilliant exchange of moves Kingsley Coman, who pitched wide, while Caballero twice denied Lewandowski.
With Olivier Giroud fails to turn in Mason Mount’s cross at the other end, the bar came to Chelsea’s rescue by a Muller header.
However, Bayern made no mistake with their next opportunity — Lewandowski squaring for the encouraging Gnabry into side-foot home.
They quickly added a second, also, with Lewandowski and Gnabry mixing once again to the latter to slot into the bottom-right corner.
Gnabry might have had his third prior to the hour simply to hammer on the volley, though Bayern were inconvenienced by Coman succumbing to an apparent hamstring injury.
Chelsea appeared to be gathering a head of steam on, however Frank Lampard’s side found themselves down — and out — if the excellent Alphonso Davies raced clear to tee Lewandowski for his 11th Champions League goal of the season, with Alonso then seeing red after a VAR check for violent behaviour.
