UCL: Giroud fires Chelsea past Atletico as Bayern defeat Lazio

Olivier Giroud on Tuesday night became the oldest player to score for Chelsea in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League as he got the only goal that gave the Blues a 1-0 away win over Atletico Madrid in their 1st leg Round of 16 tie played in Romania because of COVID-19 protocols.

Giroud justified the faith reposed in him by Thomas Tuchel as he scored the all-important goal in the 71st minute in a tie that was played at the Arena Nationala in Bucharest.

34 – Aged 34 years and 146 days, Olivier Giroud is the oldest player to score in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League for Chelsea, and the oldest to do so for an English side since Ryan Giggs (37) in April 2011 vs Schalke. Golden. pic.twitter.com/6xTgTcwrS7

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 23, 2021

Tuesday’s goal by Giroud was his sixth in four UCL appearances for Chelsea as Tuchel got off to a winning start in the Champions League as manager.

The Blues will now hope they can finish off the second leg at Stamford Bridge when Diego Simeone’s men come calling.

Elsewhere, Bayern Munich’s quest to successfully defend the UEFA Champions League title won last season is very much on track after the German giants took a big step towards qualifying for the quarter-final stage on Tuesday night.

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Despite playing away from home, Bayern recorded an emphatic 4-1 win over Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico, Rome. Robert Lewandowski set the tone for the night when he showed great talent, dribbling past his opponent before firing in the ball to give the visitors a ninth-minute lead.

Jamal Musiala then entered the history books as the youngest English player to score in the Champions League when he doubled Bayern’s lead in the 24th minute.

17 – Aged 17 years and 363 days, Jamal Musiala has become the youngest ever Englishman to score in the UEFA Champions League. Blossoming. pic.twitter.com/rdGML43vyZ

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 23, 2021

Bayern were far from done as two minutes before half time, Leroy Sane joined the scoring spree as he pounced on a loose ball to give the Bavarians a healthy 3-0 lead inside the first 45 minutes.

Lazio were dead and buried two minutes into the second half when Francesco Acerbi turned the ball into his own net to make it 4-0. Joaquin Correa scored a consolation for the home side three minutes later but the damage had been done with Bayern remaining unbeaten in Europe after 19 matches.

Both keepers at the two ends had a busy day registering four saves each as neither team could add more goals.

Bayern definitely will be the happier of the two teams as they head back home with a huge advantage that should be enough to seal their place in the quarter-final.