Unstoppable Bayern ride on ‘outstanding Gnabry, bit of luck’

Bayern Munich head into Sunday's Champions League final against Paris St Germain in extraordinarily dominant form and with a real chance to become the first team to win the competition with a 100 percent record.

"A physio told me before the game that a ball can't go in if you don't shoot it. Luckily, I shot it and it went in."  -Serge Gnabry

Bayern coach Hansi Flick admitted after their 3-0 win that his side needed a bit of luck and the quality of Serge Gnabry to survive early Olympique Lyonnais pressure and book their spot in the final. Winger Gnabry scored twice before Robert Lewandowski added a late third goal but the Bavarians had to survive early pressure from the French side who hit the post.

"It was an intense game and we knew it would be like that. Lyon had a great performance, pressured us and we survived it with a bit of luck especially at the start," Flick said.

"Serge's individual performance settled our nerves. The 1-0 was outstanding. His finish and his run, just outstanding," he added.

There were just 58 seconds between Lyon's Karl Toko Ekambi hitting the post and Serge Gnabry unleashing a rocket into the top corner. It was a goal of the highest quality from one of Europe's finest and a brutal lesson in finishing.

It's a hallmark of this edition of Bayern to play with freedom and creativity, to also be ruthlessly efficient in front of goal. The eight they scored against Barcelona told its own story, and while this was a different performance against Rudi Garcia's more organized Lyon, the same traits were visible.

In fact, 'doubt' is a word that hardly seems applicable to Bayern -- at least since they replaced Niko Kovac with Flick in November.

"In the past 30 years they have never played at such a high level tactically as they are at the moment under Hansi Flick," Ralf Rangnick, the experienced former Bundesliga coach, told Kicker magazine after the game.

Olympique Lyonnais were left ruing missed chances as the French side, who finished seventh in Ligue 1 after it was cut short amid the COVID-19 crisis and will therefore not play in Europe next season, had the first two opportunities to score at the Estadio da Luz. But Memphis Depay shot just wide and Karl Toko Ekambi hit the post as Lyon dominated Bayern in midfield and found space in the back of the Germain team's defenders.

Cameroon forward Ekambi also missed a sitter after the break. "We're all very sad. It's not easy to lose in a Champions League semi-final but we exit the competition with our heads high," said Lyon sports director Juninho.

"We knew that we were up against a better team but we stuck to our game plan but to beat such a team, you need to score when you have the chance. Maybe it would have been different if we had converted our early chances."

Bayern will bid for their sixth European Cup triumph when they come up against Neymar and Kylian Mbappe on Sunday and after convincingly beating Chelsea, Barcelona and now Lyon, Hansi Flick's side will surely start as favourites.

But Lyon forward Ekambi issued a warning as he said he didn't think Bayern were "unbeatable" despite 3-0 loss.