Takeaways from Bayern Munich’s win over Eintracht Frankfurt in DFB Pokal.
Bayern Munich had to step away from the Bundesliga for a midweek clash in the DfB Pokal as Eintracht Frankfurt came to town for the semifinal. Bayern finished the match victorious with a scoreline of 2-1 and had difficulty putting this match away.
As reigning titleholders, Bayern Munich came into the match wanting to extend their winning streak and knock off Pokal rivals. This win also extends their winning streak since their last loss in December and will give the team confidence to finish out the rest of the season and win the league.
In the first half, Bayern were dominant and were unlucky to only be up 1-0 at halftime. Ivan Perisic got the first goal of the match in the 14th minute after a beautiful counter-attack by Bayern and a great cross by Thomas Muller.
The second half was a different story, though. Frankfurt increased their intensity and attacked Bayern right from the whistle. They were finally rewarded by an equalizer in the 69th minute, scored by Danny da Costa. Shortly after Bayern were able to get the winner, through none other than Robert Lewandowski in the 74th minute. (Stats Courtesy: WhoScored.com).
DfB Pokal matches are always tricky games and sometimes come with surprises. Bayern were able to get through to the final, and that’s what matters. They will look forward to playing Bayer Leverkusen in Berlin in July for the trophy. For now, let us have a look at Here are some takeaways from semi-final victory against Frankfurt.
A tale of two halves for Bayern Munich
DFB fixtures are always different than regular Bundesliga ones due to the fact they are a knockout format, and one loss eliminates a team from the competition. This means a lot of teams will play different tactically, and especially against Bayern, will attack harder in hopes of knocking off the title favorites. And in knockout games, anything can happen. This season is a perfect example of that, as the fourth tier side, FC Saarbrucken made it all the way to the semifinals of the competition.
The match started as a typical Bayern Munich match. The team pressed and attacked relentlessly, giving Frankfurt no room to even get out of their half. Leon Goretzka was critical in shutting down any attack Frankfurt tried to mount, while David Alaba used his skills to spray passes all over the field and even found himself well up the pitch accompanying the attack.
Eventually, this approach was rewarded with a beautiful diving heading goal by Ivan Perisic. The move started from the back and quickly advanced up the field leading to a quick cross by Thomas Muller onto the head of Perisic. Kingsley looked good outside of the box dribbling, and keeping possession of the ball, but struggled when he got inside of the box, finding himself in great positions. Needless to say, the away side found themselves lucky to be down only 1-0 at halftime.
More from Bayern Strikes
- Bayern Munich: Tactical takeaways from 2-2 draw against Bayer Leverkusen
- Bayern Munich: Kingsley Coman set to be fit for Manchester United clash
- Bayern Munich unlikely to move for Trevoh Chalobah in January
- Bayern Munich: Key lessons from draw against Bayer Leverkusen
- Bayern Munich remains keen on hiring Max Eberl
The second half was a different story. Immediately from the start, Frankfurt attacked and put pressure on Bayern. At first, Bayern looked like they were going to be able to weather the storm and regain control of the match. However, in the 69th minute, that all changed when Danny da Costa put the ball past Manuel Neuer from a ball going across the box.
Frankfurt showed in this half that Bayern are mortal and that if pressured in an organized manner, it can be scored upon and potentially beaten. Bayern are so close to winning the domestic double. If they want to go far in Europe, they will have to clean this up and focus 100% on the entire match.
Substitutions hurt Bayern Munich
One common criticism under current coach Hansi Flick is how he uses his substitutions. Using them is a tricky business and one that can either elevate a team over an opponent or cause more problems than there already are. Unfortunately, the latter was the scenario on Wednesday.
In the 61st minute, Flick sent on Lucas Hernandez for Ivan Perisic, which moved Alphonso Davies in the left-wing role. Thiago came on for Kingsley Coman at the same time. Both players that came on struggled to make a positive impact for the Bavarians. One could argue that Javi Martinez made more of an impact after coming on in the 86th minute with his goal-line clearance.
Both Hernandez and Thiago were largely ineffective and even detrimental to the team’s performance. Frankfurt’s goal came from a mistake by Hernandez at the back post. The Frenchman wasn’t marking da Costa and allowed a free ball across the face of goal. The argument could be made that Alphonso Davies makes that interception and clears the ball.
Meanwhile, Thiago is still clearly trying to get back to top form but just isn’t quite there yet. There were several misplaced passes and poor touches on the ball. The player just couldn’t get into a rhythm and wasn’t able to dominate the pitch like his midfield counterpart Goretzka.
The Thiago substitution is understandable since he came on to replace an offensive player and offered more defensive stability. However, the move to bring on Hernandez one was questionable. Bayern’s backline had been playing great for the entire match, until he replaced Davies, and after that things started to falter.
It makes fans wonder why this substitution was made. Why was the backline disrupted with so much time left in the game? It makes sense to have a more defensive approach when closing out a match, but why not carry out that philosophy with the forwards and not the outstanding defensive line? There are some interesting questions to ask in regards to this situation.
Fatigue is starting to affect Bayern Munich players
The issue with Bayern the past two seasons is that they have fallen behind in the Bundesliga title race in the fall and have to play catch up in the spring. On both occasions, managers needed time to find their best starting XI. What this means is that there is a lack of rotation, and when there is a lack of rotation, fatigue quickly starts to affect the team, especially when there is a packed schedule.
Several times on Wednesday, Bayern players looked slow to react on the pitch, and especially in the second half, did not look up to finishing the match. Die Roten speedster Alphonso Davies, who has been an every match starter under Flick, started to lose foot races that he would normally win comfortably. Leon Goretzka looked a little sluggish towards the end before getting substituted off, and Joshua Kimmich once again played full 90 minutes.
Bayern have a fairly small size with a lot of youth players on the bench. In an ideal scenario, youth players will get a lot of playing time due to the number of matches in a season. The downside is that Die Roten play close to 50 games a season, and if there isn’t a lot of rotation, those main players will fatigue, especially at the end of a season. And when there is a midweek game, sometimes this can become overly obvious.
With the season and title almost wrapped up, Flick should start implementing rotation into the starting lineup more often. There are some injuries to first-team regulars like Niklas Sule, Philippe Coutinho, and Corentin Tolisso, but that doesn’t mean that rotation is out of the question. Flick needs to work on this if Die Rotenare to seriously contend on all three fronts for next season.
Honorable Mentions for Bayern Munich
Kingsley Coman reverted to his poor decision making ways in this match, missing several clear-cut chances and sending in poor crosses. The player has all the skills in between the boxes, but in the final third, he struggles to make an impact.
The Frenchman was impressive against Bayer Leverkusen last weekend. Blowing hot and cold may cost Coman a place in the starting XI. He is ready to thrive with competition next season, but the French winger needs to become consistent to get desirable playing time.
Bayern’s record signing, Lucas Hernandez for €80 million, has become a glorified back up left-back. For a club-record signing, Hernandez should be the first player on the team sheet, but unfortunately, he can’t see the pitch as a starter. Hopefully, he gets more starts soon and lives up to that price tag.
If this is Javi Martinez’s last season for Bayern, then fans should hope that he gets the same sendoff that Ribery and Robben got. He is a warrior, and although he isn’t at the same level as Kimmich or Goretzka, he can still offer a lot for the team, showing a glimpse of that in this match. It was just a year ago that he was a starting defensive midfielder, so it’s okay to assume that he can still perform at a high level.