Three takeaways from Bayern Munich vs. Schalke

Bayern Munich scrapped away three points, but it was definitely not a benchmark performance as they failed yet again to keep a clean sheet.

James Rodriguez is critical to midfield

This one comes to no ones surprise. The Colombian play-maker has been dynamite since his arrival at Bayern Munich from Real Madrid. While it wasn’t his best game against Schalke, he remained influential.

James didn’t exactly notch any major stats in the form of assists or goals, but still left his mark. His one-two with David Alaba in the play leading up to Thomas Muller’s rocket and Robert Lewandowski’s finish was subtle, but crucial. If it weren’t for James’ deft touches in plays like this, perhaps Bayern would have continued to struggle in finding the opener.

James Rodriguez has continually shown that he can appear to shape the match in any shape or form. This includes both direct and indirect forms of play. This artful piece of play by James definitely provided the mold to sculpt the breakthrough in an indirect fashion.

In a time where Thiago is still just shy of returning to the pitch, his presence is all the more important. Especially so since Bayern Munich quite frankly struggled to keep control over the midfield possession during the match.

Leon Goretzka is potentially already showing his worth

Leon Goretzka is — of course — Bayern’s first exciting acquisition coming this summer. And all for the hefty lump sum of zero Euros. Much like James Rodriguez, despite not making a direct mark on the game, his crucial run of play was subtle but vital to Schalke’s competitive edge.

While Schalke ended up falling short in the game, they kept Bayern uncomfortable throughout. This is, in part, thanks to Leon Goretzka’s brand of tenacity. Goretzka excels in the box-to-box central-midfield role on the field. As such, that is exactly how he demonstrated his worth against his future club.

This particular piece of play, of course, came in the build-up to Schalke’s only goal in the match. And as evidenced, that play started with Leon Goretzka. Notice that the play starts when Bayern Munich are tinkering around Schalke’s half of the field, and the break begins after Goretzka tracks back in defense.

The young German prospect shows that tenacity and effectiveness tracking back and promptly earns possession back. Goretzka then makes a powerful pacy run straight at Bayern’s defense, exposing them on the counter-attack, then turning the play out wide to space. This, of course, eventually gave way to Franco Di Santo pulling one back for Schalke.

Should he keep this energy up, things are looking bright for Goretzka in his future Bayern Munich midfield role.

Bayern Munich need to learn to defend against high-pressing teams

Make no mistake, Bayern Munich earning three points is most important. However, as mentioned, the win didn’t come without several cases of complications. Schalke proved that they simply wouldn’t roll over and hand the hosts their victory. They kept the match a thorough contest throughout the 93 minutes played.

Like many of Bayern’s opponents this season, Schalke followed a traditional rule-book in their play against the hosts. Credit to Bayern for still sticking out and securing a win despite this, but there will be stronger teams than Schalke up ahead. Schalke deployed their own — and mostly effective — brand of gegenpressing.

Schalke made sure to keep Bayern Munich as unsettled as possible from the off. Their midfield and attack made instant pressure in two key areas of the pitch. These are obviously the Bayern midfield and back-line. This is particularly evident considering Bayern’s troubles holding the ball in the middle of the field. Next, Schalke would force driving runs both on and off the ball straight towards the back four, forcing errors and opportunities on goal. This, in turn, tends to expose Bayern Munich’s greatest weakness: counter-attacks.

Next: Bayern Munich see out sloppy 2-1 victory over Schalke — Player grades

With the Champions League knockout stages looming, Bayern will face tougher opposition in more crucial circumstances. The Bavarians need to clean up their play as much as possible should they still hope for the treble.