Bayern Strikes
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Bayern Munich shine offensively, struggle defensively against Hoffenheim

By Guillermo Kurten

Bayern Munich's Polish striker Robert Lewandowski celebrates his first goal during the German first division Bundesliga football match, Bayern Munich v TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, on January 27, 2018 in Munich, southern Germany. / AFP PHOTO / Gunter SCHIFFMANN / RESTRICTIONS: DURING MATCH TIME: DFL RULES TO LIMIT THE ONLINE USAGE TO 15 PICTURES PER MATCH AND FORBID IMAGE SEQUENCES TO SIMULATE VIDEO. == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE == FOR FURTHER QUERIES PLEASE CONTACT DFL DIRECTLY AT 49 69 650050 (Photo credit should read GUNTER SCHIFFMANN/AFP/Getty Images)
Bayern Munich's Polish striker Robert Lewandowski celebrates his first goal during the German first division Bundesliga football match, Bayern Munich v TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, on January 27, 2018 in Munich, southern Germany. / AFP PHOTO / Gunter SCHIFFMANN / RESTRICTIONS: DURING MATCH TIME: DFL RULES TO LIMIT THE ONLINE USAGE TO 15 PICTURES PER MATCH AND FORBID IMAGE SEQUENCES TO SIMULATE VIDEO. == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE == FOR FURTHER QUERIES PLEASE CONTACT DFL DIRECTLY AT 49 69 650050 (Photo credit should read GUNTER SCHIFFMANN/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Bayern Munich ended up coming away with another three points, despite some struggles thanks to Hoffenheim’s effective press in important moments.

Bayern Munich continue to extend their lead at the top of the table. With today’s win, Bayern hold a meaty 16-point lead ahead of second placed Schalke atop the Bundesliga table. Hoffenheim have truly proven a thorn in Bayern’s side as of late. This is largely thanks to Julian Nagelsmann’s surge in experience as his squad’s manager.

Therefore, this makes the day’s result — mostly — a relief. A resilient Hoffenheim side is not one to take lightly by any means. At the end of the day, a 5-2 scoreline was enough to show where most of Bayern’s threats lie. Despite this, it does continue to show Bayern Munich’s defensive struggles.

Should Bayern wish to hold a positive defensive record by the end of the Bundesliga campaign, the squad need to heed the words of Jupp Heynckes and improve in the back.

A rocky first-half for Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich experienced an early set of nightmares in the first-half. The half saw a determined Hoffenheim squad immediately deploy a more effective version of Dortmund’s signature gegenpressing. Hoffenheim’s attacking contingent, spearheaded by Serge Gnabry and Mark Uth, applied immediate pressure to force errors out of the Bayern back-line.

With Bayern’s midfield lacking on the day — possibly due to missing Thomas Muller and James Rodriguez — the away side made simple work early on of bypassing them and going straight at the back four. Just three minutes in, Joshua Kimmich forced an early penalty for shoving down his man in the box.

Kimmich continues to show that he’s missing some defensive discipline at right-back. Bayern loan-man Gnabry strikes from the spot, only for Ulreich to save. Unfortunately for the reliable backup, the ball rebounded for Mark Uth to hit home.

Not long after, Hoffenheim shockingly double their advantage. Serge Gnabry unleashed a wicked strike from far outside the box, catching Sven Ulreich rooted to his spot. If there’s one positive from that, it’s that Bayern will have Serge Gnabry to look forward to next season.

But this didn’t last for Hoffenheim. Bayern responded with two quick and unanswered goals soon after. A deflected audacious shot from Kimmich found its way to oncoming Robert Lewandowski for the Polish goal-hunter to deftly redirect behind Oliver Baumann’s net. Just four minutes later, a beautifully curling corner kick from Arjen Robben landed on the head of Jerome Boateng. The big German center-back got low and delicately nodded home to Baumann’s far side to level the game at 2-2.

(Photo by Matthias Hangst/Bongarts/Getty Images)
(Photo by Matthias Hangst/Bongarts/Getty Images) /

Bayern find their footing late in the first-half, and throughout the second

From then on, Bayern Munich largely ran rampant on their visitors. The attacking force of Bayern started making runs off each other and with the ball much more fluidly. They weren’t just dominating possession, they were now also being much more productive with the ball.

At this point, Hoffenheim seemed to run out of gas. Their initially wonderful usage of gegenpressing started to fade away and the visitors found themselves largely on the back foot.

When the timer reached the 63′ mark, Bayern found their first lead of the match. Young Frenchman Kingsley Coman found himself unleashed on the left-flank by Robert Lewandowski. He turned his defender inside-out and clinically and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom-right corner. Three minutes later, Arturo Vidal extended the lead further when a floating header just made it over the goal line.

Bayern were not done yet. They would put the cherry on top with a goal from former Hoffenheim man Sandro Wagner. A cross from Rafinha deflected off the glove of Oliver Baumann for Wagner to just bump into the back of the net, his first goal for Bayern since joining earlier this month.

(Photo by TF-Images/TF-Images via Getty Images)
(Photo by TF-Images/TF-Images via Getty Images) /

Improvements must be made

With a 16-point lead preserved, things look good in the Bundesliga. However, they could be much better. And this goes for the other competitions Bayern Munich are involved in as well.

Next: Niklas Sule delighted with the arrival of Leon Goretzka

For Bayern to show their true ferocity in Europe and send a message to the rest of the continent’s top clubs, Jupp Heynckes must find a way to drill more defensive discipline into the back four. Especially if they are to challenge for the coveted UEFA Champions League.