Bayern Strikes
Fansided

Four Takeaways as Bayern Munich survive scare from Paderborn

By Joshua Bishop

Bayern Munich's Polish forward Robert Lewandowski (2nd L) celebrates scoring with his team-mates the 3-2 during the German first division Bundesliga football match FC Bayern Munich v SC Paderborn in Munich, southern Germany, on February 21, 2020. (Photo by Guenter SCHIFFMANN / AFP) / RESTRICTIONS: DFL REGULATIONS PROHIBIT ANY USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS AS IMAGE SEQUENCES AND/OR QUASI-VIDEO (Photo by GUENTER SCHIFFMANN/AFP via Getty Images)
Bayern Munich's Polish forward Robert Lewandowski (2nd L) celebrates scoring with his team-mates the 3-2 during the German first division Bundesliga football match FC Bayern Munich v SC Paderborn in Munich, southern Germany, on February 21, 2020. (Photo by Guenter SCHIFFMANN / AFP) / RESTRICTIONS: DFL REGULATIONS PROHIBIT ANY USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS AS IMAGE SEQUENCES AND/OR QUASI-VIDEO (Photo by GUENTER SCHIFFMANN/AFP via Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 01: Robert Lewandowski of FC Bayern Muenchen and Serge Gnabry of FC Bayern Muenchen celebrate during the UEFA Champions League group B match between Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Muenchen at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 1, 2019, in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 01: Robert Lewandowski of FC Bayern Muenchen and Serge Gnabry of FC Bayern Muenchen celebrate during the UEFA Champions League group B match between Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Muenchen at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 1, 2019, in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images) /

Forwards come to the rescue

Two players in this match stood out above the rest and were the reason behind Bayern’s narrow victory. Starting with our prolific striker, Robert Lewandowski continued his incredible season by adding two more goals to his tally, taking his season total to 25 in the Bundesliga. Both of his goals came from crosses on counter-attacks that he slotted with precision and power.

Apart from goals, it should also be mentioned that his hold-up play and willingness to go help out the midfield in tough situations is incredible to watch, given how hard Paderborn were to break down. When an opposing team is compact and is tough to breakdown, you need more players willing to help in the cause and not just stand in one spot waiting for the ball to be played to him. Lewandowski does this to great effect, and his work rate rubs off on the other players in a positive way. Bayern are truly lucky to have a player of Lewandowski’s quality and work ethic on the pitch.

The other player to mention here is Serge Gnabry. Getting a goal and two assists is a mighty impressive stat line. Gnabry once again showed how important he is to Bayern’s Bundesliga and Champions League ambitions. For his goal, the ball found Gnabry in the box, and after fighting for a bit of space, he slotted the ball in the bottom right corner. And then, both assists came from the left flank.

Gnabry is having the season of his life, scoring 15 goals and getting 10 assists in all competitions (Stats courtesy: fbRef). His consistent wing play has reduced the workload on Thomas Muller and Kingsley Coman, allowing Muller to play in the middle, and giving Coman to take time to get back to his best form.