Bayern Munich had some key takeaways to focus on after the Supercup win on Thursday.
Bayern Munich opened the account for trophies this season on Thursday. Die Roten had to work hard to bring UEFA Supercup to Munich as Sevilla came up with a strong performance in Budapest. The German Champions eventually did enough to clinch a 2-1 win in extra time to win the game against Europa League winners.
Sevilla started the game strongly, creating problems for Rekordmeister’s defense. The Spanish side was eventually rewarded for a good start when David Alaba brought Ivan Rakitic down in the box. Lucas Ocampos stepped up to slot the penalty past Manuel Neuer.
Die Roten eventually grew into the game and scored the equalizer through a tidy move in the final third. Robert Lewandowski showed great awareness to head the ball from Thomas Muller’s cross in the path of Leon Goretzka. The German midfielder smashed the ball past the goalkeeper to score in the second consecutive game.
Lewandowski had few chances to score the winner in normal time, while Sevilla had a chance to clinch victory late in the game, but no one could break the deadlock before the final whistle. Javi Martinez came on in the first half of the extra time to score the winner. It was a narrow victory, but there were some important things learned from Die Roten’s perspective, so let us have a look at takeaways.
Javi Martinez signs off in the best possible way
There was a lot of speculation surrounding the future of Javi Martinez at Bayern Munich this week. The Spaniard was not present at the official photoshoot event for the new season. Reports in Germany suggested that there has been agreement regarding his transfer.
However, Martinez squashed those rumours for the time being by travelling with the squad to Budapest on Wednesday. The Spaniard started on the bench against Sevilla and came on late in the game to score the winner. He had managed to score Supercup in 2013 against Chelsea.
The whole week sums up Martinez’s time in Bavaria. He hardly created a fuss about less playing time or spoke to media about his future frequently, but kept on working on the training ground to be prepared to deliver his best performances whenever he comes on the pitch. His introduction against Sevilla helped the team in plugging space at the back as Sevilla looked dangerous as the game went on.
His goal came off the set-piece as he cleverly placed his header in the top corner after David Alaba’s shot was parried into the danger zone by Sevilla’s goalkeeper. Martinez is still expected to leave the club before the deadline day, but he is ending the time on the successful spell in Bavaria in the best possible way rather than leaving the club from the back door. He goes to his next club as Mr. Supercup for Die Roten.
Hansi Flick makes the right decisions from the touchline
At the start of his tenure in Bavaria, Hansi Flick was not proactive with substitutions. He would often stick with his first-team for a much longer time before bringing on players late into the game. Just like the team’s steady progress on the pitch, Flick has also improved on the touchline.
On Thursday, Flick’s every change had a positive impact on the game. Leroy Sane had a quiet game compared to his performance against Schalke last weekend. The German manager brought Sane off in the 69th minute for Corentin Tolisso. The Frenchman’s introduction allowed Die Roten to get more control in the midfield by having numerical superiority. Tolisso also provided a goal threat from the center of the park.
As the game was set to go in the extra time, Flick decided to add much more pace in the attack by bringing on Alphonso Davies for Lucas Hernandez. Moreover, the French defender was on a yellow card. With tiredness set to kick in, there was always a risk of a second yellow card.
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Flick also brought Javi Martinez to give him the farewell and also provide defensive stability since Davies was expected to make marauding runs in the final third from the left-back position, which could leave space at the back. The Spaniard ended up scoring the winner for Bayern.
The final change was Jerome Boateng for David Alaba. Since Die Roten were leading the game and Alaba was on a yellow card, having fresh legs in central defense made sense. Boateng helped the team to see out the game. Flick is getting better with game management, and the win over Sevilla was a fine example to showcase his improvement.
Build-up play was lethargic in the absence of Thiago
In the European games, Die Roten did shuffle the midfield composition last season. Joshua Kimmich used to play a deeper role in the Bundesliga, while Thiago Alcantara was the number six in European games. Last Friday, Thiago’s absence was not felt as Kimmich dominated the proceedings against Schalke, but the game against Sevilla was completely different.
Kimmich was not poor by any means, but he was not providing the edge in the center of the park when Sevilla were pressing aggressively higher up the pitch. It also affected Die Roten’s approach to the game initially as they had to go long rather than build-up play patiently from the back.
Sevilla was able to win the ball on turnovers and create chances in the final third. They did manage to get the lead, but the aggressive pressing was unlikely to last the whole game. Rekordmeister got the hold of the play and eventually started dominating the Spanish side.
Despite the win, Flick will be looking to find a solution to this problem in Champions League games this season. Thiago’s best performances came in the biggest games in Europe last season. Kimmich may have to improve his passing while beating the press since it is unlikely that the club will dip into the market for a midfielder. It will be interesting to see how Flick overcomes this tactical challenge.