Bayern Munich: Three key stats from 1-1 draw with Gladbach
By Daniel Garza
Bayern Munich was held to one point in their opening match of the 2021/22 Bundesliga season. Hosts Borussia Monchengladbach scored early through Alassane Plea but Robert Lewandowski would equalize for Bayern just a few minutes before halftime. A closely contested second half yielded no goals as it would finish 1-1.
The game started with the home side on the front foot, but the defending champions got the equaliser before halftime. The second half saw an end-to-end game, but no breakthrough. Here are three key stats from Bayern’s opening match of the campaign.
Monchengladbach continues to be a difficult opponent
The last time Die Roten defeated Monchengladbach twice in the same Bundesliga season was in the 2016/17 campaign. Since then, Monchengladbach has earned at least a point against the defending champions in every season.
They continue to be a club that gives Rekordmeister headaches and have proven to be one of the few German clubs in recent seasons capable of earning consistent points against the champions. It will be interesting to see if Monchengladbach can hold the Bavarian club once more when the two clubs meet again in January.
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Lewandowski is off to a great start
According to OptaFranz, Lewandowski has scored in seven consecutive Bundesliga Matchday One fixtures. They noted that no other player in Bundesliga history has scored seven consecutive times on Matchday One.
Having scored 41 goals last season, Lewandowski is off to a great start this season and he certainly looks like he hasn’t lost any form from the incredible 2020/21 campaign.
Yann Sommer masterclass
Bayern may have won this match if they were facing a goalkeeper who wasn’t Sommer. The Swiss goalkeeper produced an incredible eight saves to earn his club a point. He made multiple close-range saves to deny Die Roten.
Lewandowski in particular saw a few of his efforts saved by the sensational Sommer. In the 14th and 26th minutes, it appeared that the Polish striker was destined to score but the Monchengladbach goalkeeper denied both of his attempts.
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Later on in the match, Sommer would stop high-quality opportunities from Josip Stanisic and Alphonso Davies. Overall, this will most likely be one of the top goalkeeping performances in the Bundesliga that is seen this season.
Sommer’s highest save total in a single match from last season was six and he already surpassed that number just one match into the current campaign. The Swiss goalkeeper made sure that Die Roten didn’t go away with all three points from Borussia Park.