Bayern Munich endure slow start to Ruckrunde
It has been a rocky start to Ruckrunde for Bayern Munich as they dropped points for the second consecutive league game on Tuesday. The record Bundesliga champions rescued a point against FC Koln at Allianz Arena, courtesy of a brilliant long-range effort from Joshua Kimmich in the dying minutes of the game.
The performance against FC Koln was very similar to the one against RB Leipzig four days ago. Die Roten looked shaky at both ends of the pitch, giving the opposition chances to take points off them. Players have looked rusty, which has seen a dip in the collective performance of the team.
Bayern conceded an early goal against FC Koln on Tuesday through a poorly defended set piece. The Bavarian club didn’t respond to this early setback in the best possible manner. They looked shaky at the back whenever Koln tried to hit them on the break. The home side was sloppy in possession, which often led to dangerous turnovers.
Meanwhile, things have not been rosy for Bayern in the final third. They lacked the cutting edge in the final third, which often saw promising attacking moves break down at a consistent rate. The attacking patterns that were visible before the World Cup break were nowhere to be seen for Bayern in both games.
Things got better for Rekordmeister in the second half. The team showed much better intensity while defending and attacking. The Bavarian club was still far from their best, but a moment of genius from Joshua Kimmich led to the equaliser. After failing to break Koln down, Kimmich decided to unleash a thunderous strike from outside of the box to score the crucial goal for Rekordmeister.
Bayern and Nagelsmann should be looking to build on the second-half performance against Koln. The German coach needs to make sure that team plays with the right intensity from the word go instead of reacting after going a goal down. Getting the fluidity back in the team’s play is key to getting the season back on track for Nagelsmann.
Next. Three things to watch out in Ruckrunde. dark
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The only silver lining for Bayern is that they still have a lead of four points at the top of the points table. It is a big wake-up call for Die Roten ahead of some big games in February. Bayern needs to improve significantly before they face Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 stage of the Champions League. Julian Nagelsmann will be hoping to see immediate improvement when they host Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.