Bayern Strikes
Fansided

Bayern Munich: The Bavarian Collective end of season review

By bayernstrikesstaff

MUNICH, GERMANY - MAY 12: Players of FC Bayern Muenchen celebrate the 28th German football championship after the Bundesliga match between FC Bayern Muenchen and VfB Stuttgart at Allianz Arena on May 12, 2018 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Boris Streubel/Getty Images)
MUNICH, GERMANY - MAY 12: Players of FC Bayern Muenchen celebrate the 28th German football championship after the Bundesliga match between FC Bayern Muenchen and VfB Stuttgart at Allianz Arena on May 12, 2018 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Boris Streubel/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 4
Next
(Photo credit should read TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP/Getty Images)
(Photo credit should read TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP/Getty Images) /

Moment of the season

Garett Kerber

Overcoming the Parisians. My moment of the season was beating PSG 3-1 in the group stage of the UCL. Ancelloti was sacked after losing 3-0 to the Parisians so, poetically, beating them with the new old coach, and with relative ease, signaled this team had figured things out. This match took place on December 5, 2017, and Bayern didn’t lost until March 18, 2018. This game set the tone for the rest of the year in my mind.

Kiran Thakare

Carlo Ancelotti’s departure. Bayern Munich endured a very poor start to the campaign. They were consistently dropping points, and there was no structure in their performances. Even in their victories they were hardly convincing. There were rumors last summer about players being unhappy with Ancelotti’s methods. The reports grew stronger as Bayern had a terrible pre-season tour.

Ancelotti’s men were set to play Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League group stage. The first leg of this game eventually turned out to be the last game for the Italian manager. His team selection for the match in Paris was very strange as many senior players were left on the bench. This basically confirmed that Ancelotti had lost the dressing room.

Bayern delivered their worst performance in quite some time and were defeated 3-0 by the Parisians. The German champions finally pulled the trigger and sacked Carlo Ancelotti the following day. Interestingly, this was the first sacking Bayern have made since Louis Van Gaal in 2011.

Benjamin Scott

Corentin Tolisso’s second goal against Paris Saint-Germain. My moment of the season is a very specific one. The 69th minute at home against PSG. Bayern are up 2-1, but thoroughly dominating their opponents.

Kingsley Coman beats Dani Alves to a through ball on the left flank and blazes past the ageing right-back toward the Parisians’ goal. He cuts inside and feints a shot before sliding an inch-perfect pass into the path of oncoming Corentin Tolisso. Coco wastes no touches and fires the ball into the back of the net for his second goal of the game.

At that moment, all was right for Bayern Munich. Two youngsters combined to great effect, scoring a massive goal and showcasing what the club has in store for the future. They had put the nail in the coffin of the team that had humiliated them just a couple months prior. Gone were the dreadful days of Carlo Ancelotti. Jupp Heynckes was at the club, and under him anything was possible.

The euphoria of that moment and its many implications simply wasn’t overcome at any other stage of the season.

Guillermo Kurten

Jupp returns. The most dramatic moment of the season is undoubtedly the appointment of Jupp Heynckes. Following the dramatic collapse in the 3-0 loss away to PSG, the Bayern Munich higher-ups thought that consequences needed to be distributed. Unfortunately for Carlo Ancelotti, he was on the receiving end of those consequences.

For a brief period of time, it looked as if Bayern’s management was destined to follow up with Thomas Tuchel. Instead, Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge set the tone with the season’s most defining moment in bringing back Jupp Heynckes. With the treble-winning manager’s help, the Bavarian ship was steered back in the right direction, at least in the Bundesliga.

Next: David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich could be key for Niko Kovac at Bayern Munich

Controversially, however, I don’t think Heynckes alone was the answer to Bayern’s problems. Bayern Munich, despite having another league title, were far from their best this season. This has been highlighted by the Champions League and DFB Cup exits. Despite having some of the best defensive pieces in Europe, the backline was shockingly frail, at least by Bayern standards.