[Sport] Bayern Munich prove too good as Chelsea bow out of Champions League

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Bayern Munich prove too good as Chelsea bow out of Champions League

Of the administrative bits to get out of the way before the Champions League mini-tournament gets under way, here was a box that may as well have already been ticked.

As expected, Bayern Munich qualified for the quarter-finals with a 4-1 victory over Chelsea to boast an aggregate score of 7-1. They will play Barcelona next Friday at Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, gunning for their sixth European Cup.

It was a victory signed, sealed and delivered by Robert Lewandowski. The forward not only scored his 52nd and 53rd goals of the season in 44 matches - his 13th in seven appearances in this competition - but also registered two assists. They can shy away from giving out the Ballon D’Or this year, but we all know who it belongs to.

For Chelsea, it was a second defeat in a week to confirm the 2019/20 season will close with no silverware. This blow will not hurt as much as defeat to Arsenal in the FA Cup, a more realistic shot at glory. But even if this result was something of a foregone conclusion, the nature of casual dominance Hans-Dieter Flick’s outfit showed will trouble Frank Lampard.

Perhaps not gravely: this felt like something of a nuisance given the need to overturn a 0-3 scoreline from Stamford Bridge back in February. The gulf was as stark then as it was here.

But though this was something of a free-hit – Chelsea named six teenagers on their bench, four of whom had no first-team experience - there was a tentativeness in their play and uncertainty in defence that was all too familiar. Granted, neither of those issues were going to be corrected by this match, and there is five weeks to groove what needs to be grooved. But here was a stark reminder of the scale of work required and the extra investment that many needed to right these wrongs

Again, none of this is new. The first leg back said enough about the gulf between the sides that felt almost cruel to reiterate here.