The Champions League run for Bayern Munich came to an end last night as Villarreal managed to knock them out in the quarter-final stage of the competition. The Spanish club scored a late equalizer on Tuesday at Allianz Arena to go 2-1 up ahead on aggregate.
Die Roten’s exit at the hands of Villarreal is an upset since the Bavarian club was heavy favourites to book a place in the semi-final. However, the Spanish club deserves to be in the next round after outplaying Rekordmeister for the majority of the two games.
Bayern started well in the second leg on Tuesday, dominating possession and pinning Villarreal back in their half. However, the Bundesliga club couldn’t translate heavy possession into threatening shots on the target. They managed only four shots on target throughout the game.
For most football fans across the globe, Bayern’s elimination will come across as a shock. However, former Die Roten defender Lothar Matthaus believes that such kind of result was around the corner. While talking to Sky Sports, Matthaus insisted that Bayern has not been playing well for weeks.
"“Bayern’s elimination hurts German football, but Bayern haven’t performed in the last few weeks and so it might not have been a big surprise. They didn’t play with a purpose and didn’t have any solutions.”“Even the goal only gave them a sense of security for a short time and in the end they conceded a counterattack. It’s just this uncertainty that I’m currently noticing at FC Bayern on the pitch.”"
After a strong end to Hinrunde, Die Roten has struggled during Ruckrunde. They have been consistently leaking goals and lacked consistency in performances. The Bavarian club has failed to win five games in a row since the end of the Christmas break in January.
Julian Nagelsmann has also not been helped with the absences of Leon Goretzka and Alphonso Davies. The Canadian particularly scuppered his plans to play a back four on a consistent basis. However, the German coach also needs to take responsibility for poor tactical shows across two legs against Villarreal. In the first leg, his team lacked composure, while the second leg saw a one-dimensional approach in the attack.
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Matthaus also admitted that there had been a lot of uncertainty at Bayern on and off the pitch. The former German defender pointed out towards the transfer speculation surrounding star striker Robert Lewandowski is also hurting the club.
Lewandowski is reportedly open to joining Barcelona. Rekordmeister is yet to open contract talks with their attacking talisman, which has further fuelled speculation. The coming weeks will give Bayern and Nagelsmann to reflect upon the second half of the season and plan accordingly for next season. The Bavarian club needs to sort the future of key senior players, while Nagelsmann has to find solutions for tactical issues that led to his team’s elimination in the Champions League.