Chelsea target Renato Sanches struggles as Liverpool beat Bayern 3-0

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Tom Doyle2 August 2017

Chelsea target Renato Sanches had a night to forget as Bayern Munich fell to a surprise 2-0 Audi Cup loss against Liverpool.

Standard Sport understands Chelsea are struggling to convince Sanches to join them on loan and are looking at other targets.

Antonio Conte asked Bayern coach Ancelotti about taking the 19-year-old on loan last week after the Bundesliga giants beat Chelsea in Singapore.

But Sanches is understood to be concerned over playing time at Stamford Bridge, with Nemanja Matic having already left for Manchester United after falling behind N'Golo Kante and £40million Tiemoue Bakayoko in the pecking order.

Sanches was handed an early chance in Tuesday's high-profile friendly against Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool at the Allianz Arena, replacing Bayern star Thiago Alcantara as the Spaniard departed with an injury after just 21 minutes.

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The youngster was under pressure to impress following the recent transfer speculation as his team-mates looked for him to link defence and midfield, and he dutifully dropped in deep to receive the ball from defence in a quarterback role.

But if Ancelotti is hoping for Sanches for become Bayern's heir to Xabi Alonso, then this was not the night for it.

At just 19, the expectation resting on Sanches' shoulders seems overwhelming. After all, most sides - even Bayern - would struggle to adapt having lost the metronomic duo of Philipp Lahm and Alonso to retirement this summer.

Against Liverpool he was expected to set the pace, but struggled to unlock Liverpool's tight defence while being ruthlessly pressed by Klopp's forwards.

In fairness, Liverpool were already one goal up when Sanches came on as Roberto Firmino played in Sadio Mane to finish after 10 minutes.

Corentin Tolisso was the guilty party in gifting Liverpool the ball to break from midfield, but the Bundesliga champions still struggled to settle into a rhythm with Sanches at the base of the midfield.

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Sanches casually lost possession on the half-hour mark to the frustrated heckles of Bayern fans, but quickly won it back with a firm sliding tackle before holding his arm up in apology.

Just 90 seconds later, Sanches showed nimble footwork to open up space near his own box before floating a ball over the top of the Liverpool defence, but it was a mistimed lob with no runners from midfield to suggest it was even close the right option.

Another poor ball soon followed to concede possession, eventually leading to Liverpool's second goal.

The Premier League side exploited the left flank ruthlessly as Sadio Mane flicked a cute backheeled pass into Alberto Moreno's path, and the full-back's deflected cross-shot was headed home by Mohamed Salah.

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It didn't get much better for Sanches early on in the second half as he was booked for pulled Firmino to the floor to prevent yet another Liverpool counter four minutes after the interval - a desperate two-handed grapple a couple of yards away from the referee.

On 54 minutes he took a speculative punt at goal from 35 yards a couple of minutes later which was easily blocked, and then almost gave away possession again with a sloppy touch before another wayward pass a minute later.

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The fact that a brief spell of Bayern possession was greeted with ironic jeers from the home crowd on 56 minutes said a lot about their lack of rhythm on the night.

Sanches was at fault again on the half-hour mark as he panicked before flicking the ball waywardly backward, with only Firmino's selfishness on the break preventing Liverpool from adding a simple third.

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That third almost came 20 minutes from time with Sanches slow to react as Marko Grujic finished a Danny Ings cut-back, but the effort was - mercifully - ruled out for an Adam Lallana offside with Sanches in pain on the floor.

Bayern's misery was compounded as David Alaba was forced off with an injury 13 minutes from time, while Daniel Sturridge added an impudent third with a deft lob - an action which cruelly resulted in a thigh problem for the injury-prone striker.

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Sanches' night, meanwhile, ended with a 35-yard free kick which he thumped high over the bar - the less said about it, the better.

In fairness to Sanches - and many others - pre-season matches are by no means an accurate way to judge of a player. But with the new campaign fast approaching, Sanches looked like a young man playing within himself.

What is clear at the moment is that Sanches is not suited to being the main man in holding midfield, which poses the question as to which role Conte would expect him to play if he were to join Chelsea on loan.

Indeed, Conte would be alarmed to see Sanches struggle so badly against a direct title rival for the Blues. A deep role would not suit him, but that would be the most likely role with Conte looking for extra cover for Kante.

Sanches has plenty of time to figure out what type of midfielder he wants to be. But on this form, a season-long loan at Chelsea will not help him work out the answer.