Bayern Munich continued their winning run in Bundesliga against Freiburg.
Bayern Munich showed no signs of slowing down despite winning the Bundesliga title on Tuesday. The champions cruised to a comfortable 3-1 win against Freiburg on Saturday, courtesy of goals from Robert Lewandowski and Joshua Kimmich.
Having completed an unbeaten 18-game run against Werder Bremen in midweek, Bayern made changes to get their 19th win in a row. Hansi Flick made five changes with the league title safely in their hands, giving chances to fringe players to impress.
Sven Ulreich started in between the posts. Lucas Hernandez and Javi Martinez appeared in the defensive line. The duo replaced an injured David Alaba and Alphonso Davies who was suspended for this match. Sarpreet Singh got his first start while Mickael Cuisance also featured in the attacking midfield zone. The visitors made two changes. Freiburg’s leading goals-scorer, Nils Petersen returned to the starting lineup. Lino Tempelmann got his full debut with Robin Koch sidelined.
Freiburg displayed great intensity to fight Bayern right from the start. The visitors pressed aggressively and were quick to drop back after an unsuccessful attempt. Bayern, nonetheless, were as fierce as they ever have been under Hansi Flick. The champions came close to open the scoring in the first three minutes following a corner kick.
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Twelve minutes into the game and Sarpreet Singh got a big chance. Thomas Muller swung in a diagonal cross for Robert Lewandowski who opted to serve it back for Singh on the edge of the box. The Bavarians were omnipresent in Freiburg’s half. The hosts took six shots in the opening quarter of an hour with their lightning-fast passing and movement.
The opener was not far away. Joshua Kimmich made it one-nil, four minutes after Sarpreet Singh’s chance. Having tried his luck a minute earlier, Kimmich surged forward to collect a pass from Lewandowski. The Poland international, under pressure from Freiburg’s center-backs, made an intelligent decision to find Kimmich.
After grabbing an assist to his name, Lewandowski scored a brace on either side of Lucas Holer’s goal. His first goal set another record. Lewandowski became the first non-German player to surpass 31 Bundesliga goals in a season. 13 minutes before the first half’s conclusion, Lewandowski connected with Lucas Hernandez’s pass from the left side to restore Bayern’s two-goal cushion.
The first half left Christian Streich fuming on the touchline. His half-time team talk seemingly worked in Freiburg’s favour in the initial moments of the second half. The visitors looked dangerous in attack and earned two free-kicks in quick succession outside Bayern’s box.
Bayern were back to their usual form in no time. With almost half an hour remaining for the final whistle, Die Roten attempted three more shots. Lewandowski came in touching distance to complete his hattrick. Unfortunately, a mix-up with Leon Goretzka led to Muller’s chipped cross convert off-target. In the second instance, Muller’s selfless display gave Cuisance the chance to make it four goals. However, the French midfielder aimed for the empty stands behind Alexander Schwolow.
Freiburg’s substitute, Luca Waldschmidt got the best chance of the game for his side in the 70th minute. However, Sven Ulreich reached first to handle the ball and deny him his sixth league goal of the season. Changhoon Kwon was presented with another opportunity to beat Ulreich in a one-on-one setup. The veteran goalkeeper had apparently made up his mind to not concede more than one goal.
It was another wonderful football from Hansi Flick and his men. The champions extended their unbeaten run to 19 games. While Lewandowski got two goals to his name, it was Thomas Muller whose man of the match performance ended Freiburg’s dreams to qualify for the Europa League.
"Bayern Munich (4-3-3)UlreichPavard- Martinez-Boateng- HernandezGoretzka- Kimmich- CuisanceMuller-Lewandowski- SinghSubstitutes- Neuer, Odriozola, Coman (↓ Singh (64′)), Jeong, Batista-Meier, Zirkzee (↓Cuisance (64′)), Richards (↓Martinez (85′)), Musiala (↓Muller (89′))Freiburg (4-4-2)SchwolowSchmid- Lienhart- Heintz- GunterSallai- Hofler- Keitel-GrifoHoler-Petersen.Substitutes- Flekken, Schlotterbeck, Itter (↓Griffo (75′)) , Abrashi (↓Gunter (87′)), Frantz(↓Keitel (64′)), Borrello, Kwon (↓Sallai (46′)), Waldschmidt (↓Holer (64′))"