2GS The Sunday Times February 13, 2022 13
Bayern Munich slipped to a shock
4-2 defeat at VfL Bochum
yesterday, conceding all four
goals in the first half.
German champions Bayern are
one of the favourites for the
Champions League and take on
RB Saltzburg on Wednesday. They
took the lead in the ninth minute,
through Robert Lewandowski’s
25th league goal of the season
but the home side struck back
quickly with goals from
Christopher Antwi-Adjei, Jürgen
Locadia, Cristian Gamboa and
Gerrit Holtmann to take control.
Lewandowski did score again, 15
minutes from time, but it was too
little too late. “We put in our worst
performance of the season over
the whole game today,” Bayern’s
German international Joshua
Kimmich said. “We lacked
everything you need to win a
game.”
Gareth Bale started for Real
Madrid for the first time in almost
six months in their 0-0 draw away
at Villarreal in La Liga.BAYERN CONCEDE
FOUR IN SHOCK LOSS
A
s the fireworks crackled and
gold confetti fell from the
Abu Dhabi night sky, Roman
Abramovich grabbed the
only trophy to have eluded
him as Chelsea owner and
grinned at the clicking
cameras. A full house,finally. Flanked by Didier Drogba and
Petr Cech, part of the team beaten by
Brazilian opposition ten years ago,
Abramovich accepted the Fifa Club
World Cup, No 21 for the cabinet since
his takeover in 2003, and the embra-
ces began.
The first went to Thomas Tuchel,
the Chelsea head coach who had
made some curious tactical tweaks
after his last-minute dash to Abu
Dhabi, having missed Wednesday’s
semi-final and last Saturday’s FA Cup
win with Covid. Abramovich hugged
the man who had delivered him three
pieces of silverware in 13 months.
“This was for him, no doubt,” a
hoarse Tuchel said. “I met him shortly
on the pitch after. He said congrats
and I said congrats. I said, ‘It’s for you,
your club, your impact, your passion
that makes this possible.’ ”
Surprisingly, so did a below-par
performance against admirable oppo-
sition in Palmeiras, whose wonder-
fully fervent fans shed tears after Kai
Havertz converted the crucial penalty
in the 117th minute.
It was the second spot kick
awarded by the referee Chris Beath
via video review; Raphael Veiga sent
Palmeiras supporters into ecstasy by
converting the first one to make it 1-1.
Abramovich had seen signs of why
Chelsea forked out £97.5 million for
Romelu Lukaku in the summer, with
the striker putting Tuchel’s team
ahead with a well-timed header, but
he was brought off at the very
moment they required another goal.
Callum Hudson-Odoi claimed the
assist and was the standout performer
but he, too, was replaced and the
approach was puzzling. In the end,
though, Tuchel’s trip to the Middle
East was more than worthwhile.
“I was several times on my way to
the airport and on my way back as I
was called back because the test was
not negative,” he said. “Finally we
made it and I arrived for dinner on
Friday.
“We told the players this was a
fantastic opportunity. So many young
boys dream to be one day in this final
and we reminded ourselves that we
were once that boy. Maybe this tour-
Chelsea finally rule the world
Azpilicueta
holds aloft the
trophy in Abu
Dhabi after a
Havertz penalty
deep into extra
time secured
Chelsea’s victoryMICHAEL REGANCHELSEA
Lukaku 55, Havertz 117 (pen) 2PALMEIRAS
Raphael Veiga 64 (pen) 1lovely attack. Lukaku was central to
the move but it proved one of his last
acts. Chelsea’s new top scorer was
replaced by Timo Werner, while the
largely ineffective Saúl Ñíguez came
on for Hudson-Odoi. Abramovich, up
in the VVIP section, appeared less
than impressed but extra time deliv-
ered redemption.
Havertz showed the same calmness
seen in Porto last year, when he
scored the goal to win the Champions
League, but the opportunity was fit-
tingly provided by César Azpilicueta.
The club captain hit a volley that
struck the hand of Luan, who was
later sent off for a late foul on Havertz.
Azpilicueta is the only remaining
member of the 2012 team beaten by
Corinthians but now, like Chelsea, he
has won every possible club trophy.
Confetti has so often fallen on this
club now crowned world champions.Star man: Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea)
Chelsea (3-4-2-1): É Mendy 6 — A Christensen 6
(M Sarr 90min), T Silva 6, A Rüdiger 7 —
C Azpilicueta 7, N Kanté 6, M Kovacic 6 (H Ziyech
90), C Hudson-Odoi 7 (S Ñíguez 76) — M Mount 6
(C Pulisic 31), K Havertz 7 — R Lukaku 7
(T Werner 76). Booked Havertz.
Palmeiras (4-2-3-1): Weverton 6 — M Rocha 7
(Deyverson 119), G Gómez 7, Luan 6, J Piquerez 7
— Z Rafael 7 (Jailson 60), Danilo 7 — Dudu 7
(R Navarro 103), R Veiga 7 (E Atuesta 78), G Scarpa
6 — Rony 7 (Wesley 78). Booked Wesley, Atuesta.
Sent off Luan.
Referee C Beath (Australia).
Attendance 32,871.green and offered the kind of backing,
a constant hum in air filled with flare
smoke, that ensured their team took
this seriously.
They posed plenty of problems,
disciplined in defence and deter-
mined in a dangerous counterattack,
led by the lively Dudu, who fizzed an
early shot over Édouard Mendy’s
crossbar and skewed an effort wide.
Lukaku was wasteful in Wednesday’s
semi-final against the far inferior
opposition of Al Hilal, but took his
only clear opportunity when it
arrived ten minutes after the interval.
The odds were against him, sur-
rounded by three defenders when
Hudson-Odoi’s left-footed cross came
looping into the penalty area, but
Lukaku showed composure to power
his header beyond Weverton.
A deficit failed to deter those Brazil-
ian fans and they were rewarded with
an explosion of joy. Outrage surged
through Thiago Silva, their fellow Bra-
zilian, as it was his hand that con-
nected with the ball when challenging
Gustavo Gómez in the air. Beath’s visit
to the touchline monitor allowed
Veiga to send Mendy the wrong way.
Neither goalkeeper was truly tested
despite some decent opportunities.
Havertz shot wide and Christian
Pulisic, a first-half substitute for
Mason Mount, who suffered an ankle
ligament injury, rolled wide after aKai Havertz, who scored Chelsea’s
winner, admitted he was nervous
taking the penalty. “It’s amazing.
After champions of Europe, we
are now champions of the world.
It sounds better. I was nervous
[taking the penalty]. It’s a big
penalty. It’s just crazy. It was good
I kept the nerves. I was the third
penalty taker but I was the only
one left on the pitch. My team-
mates gave me trust. I dreamed
always as a kid of this.”
Thomas Tuchel, the Chelsea
head coach, said: “It never stops.
We want to keep on winning
trophies.” He said of Havertz: “You
cannot not be nervous in this
situation. We trusted the statistics
and I’m happy for him.”HAVERTZ WAS THIRD
CHOICE FOR PENALTY
CLUB WORLD CUP FINAL
TOM
RODDY
Dubai
After extra time (1-1 at 90min)
nament is not so highly regarded in
Europe but once you are here, and
once you feel it, it really catches you.”
Palmeiras made sure of that. While
the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium
may have been a neutral venue, the
reality was an away day for Chelsea.
Supporters from South America,
about 15,000 of them, turned the city