Bayern Strikes
Fansided

Takeaways as Bayern Munich survive late scare from Hoffenheim

By Joshua Bishop

05 February 2020, Bavaria, Munich: Football: DFB Cup, Bayern Munich - 1899 Hoffenheim, Round of 16 in the Allianz Arena. David Alaba (l-r), Alvaro Odriozola, Joshua Kimmich, Corentin Tolisso, Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Müller and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer from FC Bayern Munich celebrate their victory with the fans after the game. Photo: Matthias Balk/dpa - IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the regulations of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga and the DFB Deutscher Fußball-Bund, it is prohibited to exploit or have exploited in the stadium and/or from the game taken photographs in the form of sequence images and/or video-like photo series. (Photo by Matthias Balk/picture alliance via Getty Images)
05 February 2020, Bavaria, Munich: Football: DFB Cup, Bayern Munich - 1899 Hoffenheim, Round of 16 in the Allianz Arena. David Alaba (l-r), Alvaro Odriozola, Joshua Kimmich, Corentin Tolisso, Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Müller and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer from FC Bayern Munich celebrate their victory with the fans after the game. Photo: Matthias Balk/dpa - IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the regulations of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga and the DFB Deutscher Fußball-Bund, it is prohibited to exploit or have exploited in the stadium and/or from the game taken photographs in the form of sequence images and/or video-like photo series. (Photo by Matthias Balk/picture alliance via Getty Images) /
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05 February 2020, Bavaria, Munich: Football: DFB Cup, Bayern Munich – 1899 Hoffenheim, Round of 16 in the Allianz Arena. Alphonso Davies (M) from Munich and Benjamin Hübner (l) and Sebastian Rudy from Hoffenheim fight for the ball. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa – IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the regulations of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga and the DFB Deutscher Fußball-Bund, it is prohibited to exploit or have exploited in the stadium and/or from the game taken photographs in the form of sequence images and/or video-like photo series. (Photo by Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images)
05 February 2020, Bavaria, Munich: Football: DFB Cup, Bayern Munich – 1899 Hoffenheim, Round of 16 in the Allianz Arena. Alphonso Davies (M) from Munich and Benjamin Hübner (l) and Sebastian Rudy from Hoffenheim fight for the ball. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa – IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the regulations of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga and the DFB Deutscher Fußball-Bund, it is prohibited to exploit or have exploited in the stadium and/or from the game taken photographs in the form of sequence images and/or video-like photo series. (Photo by Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images) /

Bayern took the foot off the pedal

I feel like these observations are overly negative and that I’m making it seem like the team played horribly. That isn’t the case, while a few players had particularly poor matches, the rest of the team played fairly well. However, there is one more cause for concern to be mentioned. Bayern were 4-1 up in the 80th minute, and let Hoffenheim back in the game. Considering the number of pivotal matches coming up, this has to be addressed.

Hansi Flick rightfully waited until after the three-goal lead to make substitutions, taking off his two best performers Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski. He replaced them with youngsters Joshua Zirkzee and Mickael Cuisance. Immediately after these substitutions, Hoffenheim scored their second goal. Flick then went on to bring on Alvaro Odriozola to make his debut for the club, and following that change, Hoffenheim got their third goal.

We all want to see the young players come on and succeed and prove that they belong in the first team (see Alphonso Davies). I was excited to see these players come on the field, but what followed was unacceptable. Bayern’s performance level dropped significantly. Zirkzee missed a one-on-one with the keeper. Cuisance came on and started fouling players right away. Odriozola was the only one to offer anything in the short time he got.

Next. Bayern Munich reach an impasse in talks for summer transfer target. dark

With big matches coming up against Leipzig and Chelsea, Bayern should be to be able to maintain their performance level across the whole match. We saw this last weekend against Mainz, where Bayern dropped their level and allowed a goal to be scored. Against Mainz and Hoffenheim, that’s fine, but against tougher competition, they will have to do better or else this season will not end the way we want it to.