FC Bayern gave Wolfsburg a night to forget.
Bayern Munich’s game against Wolfsburg wasn’t quite smooth sailing at the start, but it quickly turned into a bloodbath and gave the fans a historic night to remember. It is not every day that you see eight goals being scored in a Bundesliga game, especially against quality opposition in Wolfsburg. Bayern Munich have found their groove, and there is no stopping them right now.
Call the ambulance…but not for me
Wolfsburg was relentless in the first half. Fighting for every ball, winning more challenges than Bayern, and giving the defense hell. After equalizing following a wonderful team move, Wolfsburg looked all set to take the game to Bayern. Unfortunately for Wolfsburg, all they had done was awaken the beast.
It was all downhill from there for Wolfsburg.
Bayern Munich have struggled to come back into games where they’ve been caught by surprise or outmaneuvered in the past. But not anymore. This Bayern side gets better when the opposition ups the ante. The players leave their all on the pitch and take the fight to the enemy. Most importantly, the team is simply not satisfied with a handful of goals and is always hungry for more. The pressing and intensity were just as high for Bayern’s seventh (that beautiful Luis Díaz-Michael Olise linkup) as they were for Bayern’s second (also a stunning Díaz-Olise linkup), which exemplifies the mentality of the squad under Vincent Kompany.
This is shaping up to be a season to remember.
Díaz-Olise the new Robbery?
Olise has the most chances created of any footballer in Europe’s top five leagues and nine assists in the Bundesliga (should really be 10, if not for Bayern’s fourth awarded as an own goal) after tonight’s sublime cross to set Díaz up for Bayern’s second. Bayern’s right winger is arguably the team’s most important player at the moment, and the club has been quite fortunate with Olise’s availability. The team looks to him for inspiration, especially when facing defenses that are hard to break down, hoping that the Frenchman provides the spark needed to fashion a chance out of nothing.
Every time Olise touched the ball, there was a palpable sense of a goal looming. With 2 brilliant goals (one with his left foot, one with his right) and an otherworldly assist, his quality and dominance was only matched by one other player – his partner in crime, Luis Diaz. A goal and two assists capped a beautiful performance, and service resumes as usual from Bayern’s attack.
It would’ve been interesting to have had Diaz for the Arsenal game.
Bischović will get there…eventually
Tom Bischof and Aleksandar Pavlović finally started together, something the Bayern fans have been yearning to see in the Bundesliga for months. However, it didn’t look all that pretty to begin with. Getting dispossessed left and right, with some uninspired passing and mediocre positioning, it sometimes felt like Bayern did not play a midfield in the first half. Both players got more comfortable as the game progressed, however. and soon added to the team’s structure. Their services weren’t paramount to Bayern’s success tonight, since Bayern’s front three dominated the game all by themselves.
What stood out, however, was Bischof’s effort on defense. With some well-timed interventions, a solid block, and better positioning in the second half, the pair gave a sense of what their roles could be moving forward. Bischof seems to be more comfortable operating as a 6, while Pavlović’s ball progression and tempo control shine with a more defensive-minded partner in crime.
They have all the ingredients for a wonderful midfield partnership for the next decade and are simply in need of more game time together. That is if Leon Goretzka doesn’t bench them with his uptick in performances as a substitute, however.
Is it time for Goal-retzka’s three-week resurgence?
Bayern’s defense is sturdy as ever
Credit where credit is due. That’s how we roll.
The defense has been taken for granted this season, with the squad’s otherworldly pressing and ball recovery times. However, without the solidity that Dayot Upamecano and Jonathan Tah afford at the heart of the defense and the insane lung-busting efforts of Konrad Laimer every game, the squad simply won’t be able to blitz opponents on attack with such intensity.
Josip Stanišić has been quite solid and serviceable as a fullback, and with Davies yet to return to full fitness, his shifts have been invaluable. The squad finally has a healthy, deep, and versatile defensive line, and it shows. Kompany’s game-plan seems to work so well because of the team’s structure and the anchoring done by the defense. Manuel Neuer, for all his deficiencies this season, reminds us once every other game that he still has it, with a top-notch save, like he did tonight from close range.
The goal conceded was unfortunate, but the defense was largely spotless the rest of the night.
Category: General Sports
