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MUNICH — Canadian Alphonso Davies looked dangerous in his return from injury Wednesday as defending champion Bayern Munich blanked Lokomotiv Moscow 2-0 in Champions League Group A play.
The 20-year-old from Edmonton had been out since tearing ankle ligaments in Bayern’s 5-0 win Oct. 24 over Eintracht Frankfurt. He rolled his ankle in ugly fashion just 55 seconds after kickoff in the Bundesliga match at Munich’s Allianz Arena.
Davies came close to creating the game’s first goal in the 39th minute Wednesday when he found Thomas Mueller with a low cross through traffic. But Mueller’s shot went just wide.
In the 57th, Davies picked out Serge Gnabry with another perfect pass. The German international had two cracks at goal but was stopped by Guilherme, Lokomotiv’s Brazilian-Born Russian goalkeeper.
Davies was also involved in the buildup to the Douglas Costa corner that produced Bayern’s opening 63rd-minute goal by Niklas Sule.
The young Canadian gave way to French international Lucas Hernandez in the 69th minute. Cameroon international Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored Bayern’s other goal in the 80th minute.
The game was the 10th in Champions League play for Davies, who ranks fourth among Canadians in that category. Beskitas midfielder Atiba Hutchinson leads with 19 Champions League appearances followed by Red Star Belgrade goalkeeper Milan Borjan (14) and retired forward Tomasz Radzinski (12).
Davies, who has won 17 caps for Canada with five goals, has become the face of Canadian soccer abroad — along with women’s captain Christine Sinclair. On Tuesday, he was named co-winner of the Toronto Star’s Lou Marsh Trophy with Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.
Davies joined Bayern from the Vancouver Whitecaps in a then-MLS record US$22-million transfer. The deal was done in July 2018 but Davies finished out the MLS season before joining Bayern in January 2019.
Since then, he has turned heads with his speed and ability to create attacks from fullback.
Bayern (5-0-1) had already qualified for the knockout stage of the European club championship. Lokomotiv (0-3-3) finished bottom of the group.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2020.
The Canadian Press
