Bayern Munich knew that it was a longshot to avoid the playoff round of the Champions League and, sure enough, even a 3-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava did not do the job.
From a performance perspective, the Bavarians did not exactly light the world on fire, so let’s get into it. Here are some quick hitters on the match:
- As always, let’s begin with a look at the starting XI:
- Knowing that the team needed to score a lot of goals, it was not shocking to see Vincent Kompany load up his attacking group. It was, however, surprising to see how he did it. Kim Min-jae was the only natural center-back and one of three normal defenders with Sacha Boey and Josip Stanišić. Another shocking aspect was the inclusion of Mathys Tel, given all of the loan and transfer speculation surrounding him.
- It was curious to see Jamal Musiala excluded from the starting XI when the team knew that it needed to score a lot of goals.
- The formation was — officially — a 4-1-4-1, but it was a very free-floating setup:
- Tel had a chance to put Bayern Munich up 1-0 in the 5th minute, but his header was saved. No worries, though, Thomas Müller’s header in the 8th minute would make up for it and give the Bavarians the lead.
- Müller made a great call for the ball and Kimmich’s delivery was excellent.
- With so much focus on the attack, Bayern Munich got sloppy on defense and was majorly bailed out by Manuel Neuer, who made an incredible save in the 26th minute.
- Like many, I often cite the low block as the reason why Bayern Munich’s attack often looks so choppy. In addition to dealing with a compact setup from Slovak Bratislava, Bayern Munich was remarkably inefficient and often choked out the space around Kane. Poor decisions and worse vision at times were a major hindrance to the Bayern Munich attack. Finishing also left a lot to be desired as well.
- It is a year later and it is still tough to figure out why Christopher Freund paid all of that money for Boey last January. He seems like just a guy.
- Leroy Sané was not great. He keeps getting chances, but he looks like a lost soul out there.
- Finally, Musiala, who had just been subbed on, lofted a cross from the left wing in the 63rd minute, which found Kane’s head for a 2-0 lead.
- Bayern Munich’s attacking was horrendous at times. Poor ideas followed by worse execution.
- Coman, who had come on as a sub, picked up a nice rebound goal to make it 3-0 in the 83rd minute, but it was merely a consolation prize at that point.
- Sané had a golden chance to make It 4-0 from close range but he went for power over placement and smashed the crossbar with his attempt.
- Marko Tolić had the goal of the game though when he took advantage of Raphaël Guerreiro and roofed a shot to the near post that evaded Neuer. That had to feel good for Slovan Bratislava.
- Overall, it was a meh performance from a team that needs to really start stringing together good showings. The attack is a problem and needs to be so much better than it has been so far. The playoff round await Bayern Munich and it will be against Celtic…or Manchester City. Buckle up, we’ll see how this goes.
If you missed our Initial Analysis, Match Awards, Observations, or Postgame Podcast, give them a look or a listen:
According to a report from Sport Bild journalists Christian Falk and Tobi Altschäffl (via @iMiaSanMia), Bayern Munich board member for sport Max Eberl is still intent on selling midfielder Leon Goretzka, despite the player’s recent surge in performances:
Max Eberl has recently had a meeting with the agents of Leon Goretzka. The agents have clearly been told that the club is looking to sell the midfielder. Bayern are planning with new signing Tom Bischof as well as Aleksandar Pavlović in Goretzka’s spot. Both youngsters combined earn way less than Goretzka (Bischof less than €5m, Pavlović around €7m, Goretzka around €17m).
Sky Sport journalist Florian Plettenberg checked in as well and confirmed the news:
The decisive conversation between Max Eberl and Leon Goretzka’s new agency already took place in November, as revealed at the time.
Eberl made it clear that Goretzka has no future at Bayern and could leave as early as the winter – even on loan with an obligation to buy. However, Goretzka stayed and has been playing regularly since then (4 goals/1 assist).
The situation in the summer remains the same: Bayern would like to sell Goretzka, but he is under contract until 2026.
Goretzka ultimately holds all the cards here. It is unclear on whether or not Goretzka actually wants to move on. If he does not, he might just not go anywhere (again).
The Bundesliga Rundown is about to turn 20! But before that, this episode will highlight Matchday 19, which, according to Marcus, was the most exciting one yet!
This episode will tackle the following questions:
- Is Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz the best player on the planet?
- Has Bayern Munich already won the league?
- Is Freiburg’s defence too shaky for them to secure a European spot?
- Should Dortmund hire Ange Postecoglou or Erik ten Hag?
- … and much more!
Chelsea FC is interested in Liverpool FC attacker Darwin Núñez:
Chelsea have reignited their interest in Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez amid questions over his fit under Reds boss Arne Slot.
Paris Saint-Germain is not giving up hope on getting Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich:
Paris Saint-Germain have been monitoring Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich closely over the past few months, with a transfer for the player nearly materializing last summer. At the same time, Barcelona are said to be interested in Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah as they look to bolster both their midfield and defense for the 2025 season.
Journalists Christian Falk and Tobi Altschäffl previously reported that Bayern Munich have dropped their attempts to persuade Kimmich to take a pay cut from his current €20 million annual salary. With his contract expiring next year and growing interest from top clubs, it appears increasingly unlikely that Kimmich will accept reduced terms.
According to information from Bild (h/t Foot01), PSG remain very interested in the idea of signing the Bavarian player. However, the club from the French capital will need to prepare for a major battle to secure this deal. Why? The report highlights that Bayern Munich hasn’t given up on extending his contract, but more importantly, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, and Liverpool are also in the race. While PSG shouldn’t struggle to offer him a substantial salary, the proposed project will be the deciding factor.
Moreover, the information reveals that Kimmich doesn’t particularly favor Ligue 1, so PSG’s efforts will need to be significant. The question remains whether Luis Enrique will insist or, as is often his style, ask the management to target another player if Kimmich is not fully committed to joining PSG.
Last summer, PSG was already very keen on the 29-year-old German. Bayern ultimately managed to convince him to stay. However, Kimmich is now more open than ever to a new project, especially given the clubs involved and the lack of recognition he feels he has received from his current club in recent months.
Until there is positive movement at Bayern Munich between Kimmich and the club, these stories will only intensify.
Bayern Munich bounced back with a win over SC Freiburg, but not everything is sitting pretty at the moment.
The Bavarians are not exactly a well-oiled machine in the attack at the moment and the coach has been a bit resistant to rotate. It can get a lot better, but will it? We think so, but the club is going to have to do a better job of moving on from things that don’t work. Let’s dive in. This is what we have on tap for this episode of the Bavarian Podcast Works Show:
- Some final takeaways on Bayern Munich’s win over SC Freiburg.
- Is Bayern Munich setting the bar too low for itself? Does the club need to separate itself from underachieving players?
- Transfer deadline takes on Jonas Urbig, Mathys Tel, Christopher Nkunku, Dean Huijsen.
- Maybe less is more when it comes to talking about Joshua Kimmich’s future.
The Saudis could make Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr. a massive offer:
The Saudi Pro League is ready to pay a €300m transfer fee to sign Vinícius Júnior from Real Madrid this summer. However, the Diario AS frontpage story says that Los Blancos would not consider negotiating a fee below the forward’s €1 billion release clause, unless Vinicius were to ask to leave. The newspaper claims the Saudis will try to tempt the player into it with a salary of €200m-a-season over five years. ESPN has previously reported that the Saudis contacted Vinícius’ representatives in December to make it clear that they were still keen on a deal, after first making an approach last summer. The deal would break the world transfer record, set in 2017 when Neymar left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain when his €222m release clause was triggered.
Frenkie de Jong could end up staying with FC Barcelona after all:
Frenkie De Jong is ready to sit down and have talks about a restructured contract which would enable the Netherlands midfielder to stay at Barcelona.
