Bayern Munich stumble through a 1-0 victory against 10-man Hamburg

Bayern Munich fail to capitalize on dropped points from Borussia Dortmund and instead slump to a boring 1-0 win over 10-men Hamburg.

Since Jupp Heynckes’ second retirement from football, the aggregate score for Bayern Munich vs. Hamburg has been 31-4. So to expect a high scoring match from this game would not have been an ill-minded prediction. Therefore, the scoreline of this match and overall Bayern performance definitely came as a surprise for most fans.

Bayern’s line-up against Hamburg saw many changes from the one that battered Celtic 3-0 midweek. Joshua Kimmich sat out his first match since the season started as Rafinha started at right-back.

Elsewhere James Rodriguez was given his much demanded second Bundesliga start as he took Thomas Muller’s place between Kingsley Coman and Arjen Robben. Corentin Tolisso and Arturo Vidal took the defensive midfield places, and Niklas Sule began in central defense alongside Mats Hummels.

Poor in the first half

The first ten minutes of the match should have been a warning for neutral viewers expecting a one sided display. Many misplaced passes from Bayern Munich — whether you want to call it laziness or complacency — brought out a physicality that had not been seen in the perennial third-from-bottom outfit. Within 30 minutes, it became fairly obvious that it was going to be one of those days.

After 35 minutes, though, Bayern launched a counter-attack. Kingsley Coman charged forward with the ball, only to be brought down cynically by Gideon Jung. Jung was shown a red card ten minutes before halftime, and fans had every reason to believe that an onslaught was coming (31-4, after all).

Slightly better in the second

The second half began with a substitution. James had his time but was switched out for Thomas Muller, whose form seems to be coming back slowly but surely. Maybe unfair considering he now had the chance to perform against a weakened team, James’ 45 minute performance was marred by bad passing, lack of movement and generally poor play. He is capable of more, but this match did not show it.

Shortly after his arrival, Muller made his presence felt. A backheel to Robben almost came off, however he appeared to injure himself in the process. Several minutes later, after a poor Alaba cross, Muller set the ball off to Tolisso who fired in from close range.

It was noticeable the difference that Muller brought to the team. However, his appearance was short lived. Whatever injury he sustained earlier was too much to play through, and he was shortly replaced by Thiago.

The remainder of the match was dotted with chances for both sides, but ultimately Bayern Munich were let down by sloppy passing and poor finishing. One final chance came right at the death of the game as Kingsley Coman raced as only he can to the edge of the Hamburg box, only to have his perfect cross put wide by Robert Lewandowski, who tried to be fancy with a backheel rather than simply tuck the shot away. The ball trickled wide and the game was virtually over.

Still some positives

Even though the team are capable of scoring big, even though this match could have had a huge scoreline and even though this could have put Bayern to the top of the Bundesliga table, only a select few players apparently got the memo.

If there were any positives to take away from the game, both Thomas Muller and Thiago showed that — given the chance — they can take a game by the scruff of the neck and create chances.

Additionally, Kingsley Coman showed the world he has what it takes to be a difference maker in a game like this. He could have notched up maybe six assists all game, and the fact that he had none to show is a real shame. He still has a way to go, but if anyone had any doubts about him not being up to Bayern Munich standards, they have definitely been silenced.

Next: Bayern Munich see out boring 1-0 win at Hamburg -- Player grades

This match is a victory and it is three points. But considering Bayern could have gone top of the table on goal differential and had plenty of chances to do so, this performance was absolutely subpar.