Four takeaways as Bayern Munich demolish Hoffenheim

4 of 5

MUNICH, GERMANY – DECEMBER 21: (BILD ZEITUNG OUT) Joshua Zirkzee of FC Bayern Muenchen during the Bundesliga match between FC Bayern Muenchen and VfL Wolfsburg at Allianz Arena on December 21, 2019, in Munich, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images) /

No Lewandowski, No Problem

It was a big shock when a report came out that Lewandowski would be out for a month with a leg injury, a day after he played a big role in clinching massive victory against Chelsea. Lewandowski reportedly played through the injury against the English club. This prompted Bayern fans to start to speculate as to who Hansi Flick would choose to fill that void. Would it be Muller? Would it be Serge Gnabry? But instead, he went with the teenager, Joshua Zirkzee.

Joshua Zirkzee has risen through the ranks of Bayern’s youth system, and this season he made a breakthrough in the first team. Flick chose to hand Zirkzee his first start in the Bayern shirt. The youngster didn’t disappoint and repaid the manager’s faith by scoring a goal.

More from Bayern Strikes

His goal is not the main point of this section. The big fear with Lewy’s injury was that because he was the main source of Bayern’s goals, where would goals come from? It has become pretty clear that with this kind of energy and effort from the team, that won’t be a problem.

The goals came from everywhere. Gnabry, Kimmich, Zirkzee, Coutinho, and Goretzka all got on the scoresheet. However, the real major component from this scoreline was Thomas Muller, who continued his incredible run of form by getting two assists in the match.

Once again, Muller opened up space in the defense and used his tactical acumen to find players in open spots to score goals. Meanwhile, Gnabry used his pace effectively to consistently get past Hoffenheim defenders. The entire Bayern attack are in top form, and if this match was any indicator of the matches to come, then Die Roten will be fine in Lewandowski’s absence.