Four Takeaways as Bayern Munich survive scare from Paderborn

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(L-R) Bayern Munich’s French defender Benjamin Pavard, Bayern Munich’s midfielder Joshua Kimmich, Bayern Munich’s French midfielder Corentin Tolisso, Bayern Munich’s striker Thomas Mueller and Bayern Munich’s midfielder Serge Gnabry celebrate scoring during the German Cup (DFB Pokal) round of 16 football match FC Bayern Munich v TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in Munich, southern German on February 5, 2020. (Photo by Christof STACHE / AFP) / DFB REGULATIONS PROHIBIT ANY USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS AS IMAGE SEQUENCES AND QUASI-VIDEO. (Photo by CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP via Getty Images) /

Eyes on the Bigger Opponent

One would assume that if there wasn’t a huge midweek match coming up, then Bayern would have fielded a much stronger team. But there is a big game against Chelsea on Tuesday. All week leading up to this match, the coach and players were saying how they’re taking the season one match at a time. That’s a great thing to say in public to the press, Bayern fans all saw that the team had one eye on their trip to London next week.

The team looked to be second gear almost the whole match until they needed to be in first to pull out the win. Passes often weren’t crisp and players weren’t on the same page several times throughout the match. This can all be explained by the fact that Bayern’s Champions League matches restart on Tuesday, so why waste energy on the last place Paderborn when there’s a much more important match in four days.

With players like Thomas Muller and Kingsley Coman left on the bench, the manager’s intentions were clear: be ready for Tuesday. Bayern will go back to their preferred 4-2-3-1 with Gnabry and Coman running down the wings and Muller exploiting space in the final third for Lewandowski to poach goals. Jerome Boateng and Benjamin Pavard will return to the starting lineup in defense and Kimmich will return to his usual spot in the defensive midfield role.

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Bayern will be looking to do better than their embarrassing result in last year’s Champions League round of 16. Die Roten will need to be at their best and sharpest on Tuesday to get a good result at Stamford Bridge. Bayern supporters want their team to go far into the tournament and this process starts in four days.