As expected, Canadian phenom Alphonso Davies was back in the starting lineup for Bayern Munich in their UEFA Champions League semifinal showdown Wednesday evening against Olympique Lyonnais, and as expected, the German giants lived up to their status as favorites in a 3-0 win that sent them through to Sunday's championship game.
Though Davies didn't have any moments quite as eye-catching as his assist in Bayern's 8-2 demoliton of Barcelona in the quarterfinals, he gave the Lyon defense plenty of work, effectively operating as Bayern's widest attacking threat down the left.
On this occasion, Bayern survived an early push that saw Lyon both miss a one-on-one chance and hit the post, before the Bavarians took control though two goals from Serge Gnabry before halftime, including a superb individual effort to open the scoring. Les Gones opened the second half in similar fashion to the first, putting on a period of sustained pressure that required some strong saves from Manuel Neuer in the Bayern goal. Robert Lewandowski quashed any hopes of a comeback late on, though, rising highest on a corner kick to give Bayern an unassailable lead in the 88th minute.
Davies, a Vancouver Whitecaps academy product, has been a regular for Bayern throughout the 2019-20 season, cementing his place as one of the world's top left backs. Now, he's set become the first Canadian international to feature in the Champions League final when Bayern take on big-spending Paris Saint-Germain in Sunday's title match at 3 pm ET.
