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Old 05-26-2014, 10:16 PM   #409
NoSkillz
College Benchwarmer
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
Wed. October 4, 2023

UEFA Champions League - Group C
Dover (1-0-0, 3 points, 1st) vs. FC Bayern (0-1-0, 1 point, 2nd)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 13-8 Draw: 2-1 FC Bayern: 6-4 (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 1L

We played Bayern Munich in the preseason and they defeated us 2-1 here at Crabble, our only loss all season thus far. We’ve gone on at length about their prowess in the German Bundesliga, where they finished second last year but have won the league 30 times. They were big spenders in July, splashing over £67 million on players like CSKA Moscow’s Lamine Thiam (£21.5 million), Cruzeiro’s Everton (£15.5 million) and Frankfurt’s Kevin Green (£13.5 million). They are deep everywhere and one of the biggest clubs in the world. They’ve won the Champions League four times (last win was in 2001) and finished runners up in 2018.

I’m going to start striker Shanon Andrea today over Paul Moses - Bayern Munich is his former club and they bought him from Ascoli in Italy for £14.5 million in 2019 but they’d only give him 11 senior team games over a two year period (he scored five goals) and they’d eventually sell him to us for a bargain price of £5.5 million in 2021. He never really got a shot in Germany so we’ll let him gain a measure of revenge in this game. Andrea did score our only goal in our 2-1 preseason loss to their club. Despite being the slightest of underdogs, we’ll stick with a control mentality at home.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, S. Nasri, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Bolis
S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho
Bench - Rafinha, M. Yilmaz, G. Fanfoni, Jose, H. Cruz, G. Allan, P. Moses

Bayern come out in a flat 4-4-2 as well and the dangerous Brazilian Capixaba is up front with Alejandro Villarreal. Emiliano Pighin is in goal. With my pre-game talk, I usually defer to my assistant and he always prefers using our supporters to motivate the club and I go with it.

1’ - Right off the opening kick off, Andrea is tackled hard and is hurt. It looks like he can continue but needs to come off for a minute.

17’ - Lots of shots for both teams from distance but no real chances until we work a ball into Andrea Rocca inside the area and his right foot shot is right at Pighin and easily held.

20’ - A glorious chance, as Chiquinho beautifully sets up Shanon Andrea and our striker is on a breakaway. He shoots low and Pighin makes the fantastic stop.

34’ - Boy, this must be a very physical game, as we’ve seen no less than FIVE injuries already. No one has to come off yet but lots of guys pulling up lame.

36’ - Ingo Wilke is called upon for the first time, making a spectacular stop on Villarreal!

HALFTIME - A really ugly half of football, with countless giveaways on both sides and no offensive flow. Bayern is DOMINATING possession with 62% - they are just pummelling us and they outshoot us 8-3 (2-3 on target) as well. I tell the team they can win this game…now go out and get a goal!

46’ - Saber Nasri takes down Villarreal and is given a yellow.

54’ - A little more life from us so far this half and it’s Gianluca Bolis crossing into the area to Bamba but his header is stopped by Pighin.

58’ - We bring in Paul Moses and take out Shanon Andrea. A little speed and youth infusion!

61’ - We head the ball up field and Moses streaks after it. His shot is low and Pighin makes another fine stop!

63’ - Now we bring in Jose in the midfield for Andrea Rocca.

64’ - The quiet Neil Cairney with a yellow. I’m a bit disappointed in him today but perhaps he’s shadowing a top Bayern player - he’s done nothing offensively so far.

72’ - Claudio Contreras with a yellow as well.

80’ - Chiquinho with a chance at the outer edge of the area but it’s a weak shot and easily saved.

86’ - We simply can’t keep up with these guys. They are just dominating the ball and we can’t do anything about it. Their talented midfielder Parana takes a touch pass inside the area and has a glorious chance but Wilke makes the spectacular stop to keep the game scoreless.

Disappointing effort but it’s clear that Bayern is a top club so I guess we can’t be too upset.

Dover 0 - 0 FC Bayern
Goals -
Assists -
Man of the Match - Emiliano Pighin (FC Bayern GK - 7.5)
Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.0), Saber Nasri (7.0)
Attendance - 21,943

We did a bit better in the second half and ended up with only 45% of overall possession but outshot them 14-13 (9-3 on target). Their keeper was deservedly the man of the match. I tell the team I’m disappointed in the performance - we’ve been dominated on possession two games in a row now and that’s not Dover football.

-- We get a break when Dynamo Kyiv holds Palermo to a draw in other Group C action. Therefore, we maintain our two point edge on the table.

-- We earn £348,000 for the draw.

-- We also set a new gates receipts record, pulling in about £700,000 for the contest.



Next Up

-- We stay home and welcome Huddersfield to Crabble Athletic Ground in Premier League action.

Last edited by NoSkillz : 05-26-2014 at 10:16 PM.
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