Bayern Munich: Takeaways from smashing win against Atletico Madrid

Midfield trio step up against a formidable team

After the departure of Thiago Alcantara in the summer, Bayern had to rethink about strategy about controlling the midfield against the biggest clubs in Europe. The Spaniard was dictating the tempo of the game with his effective short and long passing last season.

In the first biggest test in Europe this season, Flick decided to go with a midfield three after Serge Gnabry was ruled out due to coronavirus. Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, and Corentin Tolisso were given the nod to execute the midfield plan.

Kimmich executed the duties of number six with perfection by retaining the possession when Atletico Madrid were aggressively pressing in Die Roten’s half. The German midfielder showed his killer pass by finding Kingsley Coman with an exquisite aerial pass for the first goal. Defensively, Kimmich sniffed danger regularly to help the defense. The German international played two key passes in the game.

Meanwhile, Goretzka and Tolisso operated as dynamic box to box midfielders. Both of them got goals in the game, highlighting their knack of finding the back of the net consistently. Goretzka kept things ticking by playing simple passes with a passing accuracy of 95 %, while Tolisso won three aerial duels, most for a Die Roten midfielder in the game. (Stats Courtesy: Whoscored)

Flick will be pleased with the performance of this midfield combination. This could be the blueprint for games when Die Roten wants a numerical superiority in the center of the park. Thiago’s guile is a big miss, but these three midfielders are capable of making it a functional midfield.