Thomas Muller Brace Sees Bayern Munich Overcome Spirited Chelsea 3-2 at 2017 ICC

German champions Bayern Munich clung on to beat Premier League holders Chelsea 3-2 in the pre-season 2017 International Champions Cup at the National Stadium in Singapore on Tuesday.  

Bayern flew out of the blocks and were 3-0 up inside half an hour thanks to Rafinha's early strike and a Thomas Muller double. 

Chelsea finally got a foothold in the match as Marcos Alonso pulled a goal back deep into first-half stoppage time. 

Michy Batshuayi then netted from close range after a flick-on by debutant Alvaro Morata with five minutes of the game remaining, but Chelsea were unable to find one more to level before the final whistle. 

Squawka News provided both lineups ahead of kick-off:

Bayern were ahead after just six minutes. Rafinha was found on the right hand side of the pitch by Corentin Tolisso and his low shot from distance beat Thibaut Courtois after he had been allowed to storm forward.

The Belgian goalkeeper should arguably have done better as there was not fierce power on the shot, but he could do little about Muller's first after 12 minutes.

Franck Ribery, who impressed throughout, flicked an assist from the left byline over Courtois to Muller at the back post, and the German striker stretched well to finish with aplomb.

Muller then curled a sumptuous effort home from 25 yards for Bayern's third, Chelsea having once again been caught on the break and allowed him to surge forward from the halfway line.

Chelsea finally pulled themselves together after going 3-0 down and made their first forays into the Bayern box.

ROSLAN RAHMAN/Getty Images

Batshuyai and Alonso both carved out half chances before the latter thundered a brilliant finish into the back of the net on the stroke of half-time following excellent work on the right from Victor Moses.

The start of the second half had a similar look to the opening 30 minutes as Bayern regained control, with new signing James Rodriguez squandering three chances to put the game to bed.

Courtois and Gary Cahill did well on separate occasions to keep out the Colombian, but with better placement on his finishes the new man could have scored a hat-trick.

As it was Chelsea remained in the contest and set up a nervy finish for the German side when Batshuayi turned home from inside the six-yard box having been unmarked at a corner, per the Times' Martyn Ziegler:

Bayern looked shaky and the Blues had the momentum, but they did not have enough time in the end to force an equaliser, and Carlo Ancelotti's side deserved their victory.