In a tough but well-contested game for Bayern Munich, the rekordmeister won 5-2 against FC Augsburg in the second round of the DFB-Pokal. This marks Bayern’s return to the Pokal after two consecutive years of Pokal exits in the second round. While the excitement in the air is pretty high for what lies ahead, here are our takeaways from the Bavarian thriller.
Augsburg – just good enough to trouble Bayern
Bayern weren’t at the forefront when they entered the game – they were being bullied physically by Augsburg and conceded the opening goal. It seemed to wake the beast, however, and Bayern really started to capitalize on the opposition’s mistakes – five times! Augsburg were by no means spectacular tonight – whatever they did was only sporadic and they couldn’t force mistakes rekordmeister All night long.
Augsburg’s so-called relentless pressing was more hooliganism than anything else – they just handed in tough challenges and tackles like no tomorrow. Players like Ermedin Demirovic and Florian Niederlechner often played quite rough and without any repercussions. The horrible refereeing only empowered Augsburg – it was almost as if the referee was fiercely opposed to showing a card.
Slow, uncreative and worrying – is Bayern decaying?
The first 25 minutes were a nightmare – Bayern showing no chance of winning the game even from a distance. Augsburg were completely dominant and every other pass was missed or intercepted. Defenders found themselves easily overwhelmed and the number of possessions was alarming.
This was Bayern’s reality and it almost looked like the Rekordmeister were preparing for a brutal defeat like that of the previous year’s DFB-Pokal exit after the 5-0 loss to Gladbach. The worrying part isn’t the number of second-round exits they’ve made from the Pokal so far – it’s the slow, sleepy and uncreative football with which they end up opening games that is more worrying.
Whether this is the result of traffic jams, lethargy, or whatever the reason, must be clear soon as the team may never see similar performances again. The next team to take an early lead over Bayern may not be so easily punished.
The persistent problem of the last third
For a few games, Bayern haven’t been very good in the final third. This can be attributed to the lack of a real striker – apart from Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting and possibly youngster Mathys Tel, there is no real number nine in the squad. While the random formation and build-up play is as incredible as ever with multiple team efforts, what really brings Bayern down is a horrendous exit in the final third. Players just don’t have the ability to finish and especially forwards like Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane might need to pay extra attention to really improve their finishing.
With Bayern leaning towards a striker-less system, that has always meant more input from the rest of the team – not just in terms of creating chances and progressing the ball, but also shooting and attempts on goal. Players therefore need to work on their skills in goal – in fact, Leon Goretzka has already picked up and settled into an advanced role in the squad, pushing forward with attack.
Red series, take turns
There’s no denying that Bayern’s roster is scintillating with stars and great players who rise to the occasion. As injuries and illnesses decimate the roster, everyone is taking the opportunity to shine.
Choupo-Moting has been deadly on goal in almost all of his outings this season and deservedly has a starting XI spot. Thomas Muller does Thomas Muller stuff – shows up for a limited amount of time, makes the biggest impact possible and leaves again, Jamal Musiala single-handedly makes attacking magic with Musiagic™, Sadio Mane provides the much-needed savvy veteran on no And so on. Today, it was Alphonso Davies who stole the show at Bayern.
His pace, which contributes to both attacking and defensive moves, and his sheer skill make him the world-class left-back that he is. Bayern really wouldn’t be the same without him, and this game wouldn’t have been Bayern’s victory without him.
We can only hope and pray that our injury crisis subsides very soon because while it is exciting to see what the team can do week in and week out, one can only imagine how much a team Bayern unscathed would be scary and exciting!
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