Clinical Inter punish Bayern's lack of punch

FC Bayern lost their International Champions Cup clash with Inter Milan 2-0 on Thursday. Inter forward Eder scored both goals in the first half. The Bavarians stemmed the bleeding after half-time and upped the pace but proved ultimately uninspired against the disciplined Italians.

The Bavarians started with Sven Ulreich in goal and Rafinha, Mats Hummels, Felix Götze and David Alaba in a back four. Corentin Tolisso and Niklas Dorsch featured in a twin holding role behind James, who was flanked by French wingers Kingsley Coman and Franck Ribéry, who wore the armband. Robert Lewandowski acted as the sole striker.

Carlo Ancelotti made five changes to the team that saw off Chelsea. Ulreich, Alaba, Götze, Dorsch and Coman took over from Tom Starke, Javi Martínez, Marco Friedl, Renato Sanches and Thomas Müller. The very indutrious Ribéry took a knock after the half-hour, youngster Milos Pantovic coming on for the Frenchman. Ancelotti shuffled his deck at half-time, Müller, Sanches, Martínez and Friedl replacing James, Tolisso, Hummels and Rafinha. Midway through the second half youngster Ron Thorben Hoffmann took over from Ulreich between the sticks, whereas Lewandowski gave way to Manuel Wintzheimer up front.

Eder punishes sloppy defending

The 23,388 crowd in Singapore saw the German record champions start on the front foot, Ribéry testing netminder Samir Handanovic from distance after five minutes. Inter's Antonio Cadreva was soon confronted by space instead of opponents on the right, whipping in a cross that evaded Hummels, forward Eder beating Götze to the ball to blast a header past Ulreich into the top corner of the net.

Bayern went looking for a reply but were let down by the final ball, whereas Inter shone with defensive discipline and dangerous counter-attacks, the match resembling Bayern's encounter with Inter's local rivals AC five days ago. The Italians doubled the lead on the half-hour, when Eder connected to an Ivan Perisic cross to unleash another fine header. More bad news came when Ribéry had to be replaced following a tackle, Bayern's impetus ebbing away before the half-time whistle.

It was an entertaining contest with chances at either end in the early stages of the second half, Coman and Lewandowski missing opportunites for Bayern. Friedl miscued a finish before Ivan Perisic almost closed out the meeting on the hour. Inter were increasingly content to sit on their lead and contain their opponents, and although Bayern never gave up, a goal refused to come in the second half, a fine Sanches effort from 30 yards shaving the post.

The German record champions depart for Germany later on Thursday and will be back in action next Tuesday, when they entertain Liverpool in the Audi Cup.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Greg Salmen

FC Bayern - Inter Milan 0-2 (H-T: 0-2)