The weekend start on a brilliant note for Bayern Munich as they finally concluded a deal to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. However, the day ended on a worst possible note as Bayern suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat against RB Leipzig at Allianz Arena in the DFL Supercup.
New season, the same old problems for Bayern. The lapses in concentration while defending were a major contributor to Die Roten’s downfall last season. Lack of astute defensive organisation always made sure the opposition was always in the game against Rekordmeister. All these issues were on the show against RB Leipzig.
Dani Olmo’s first goal on Saturday in the third minute of the game highlighted a lack of organisation while defending the set piece. Bayern didn’t win the first and second balls after a good cross was delivered from a freekick on the left flank. Olmo was more alert in the box to pounce on the second ball and slotted it past Sven Ulreich.
The second goal showed Die Roten’s poor defensive awareness from open play. Olmo cleverly went past Matthijs de Ligt and Konrad Laimer in the box to poke the ball past Ulreich. The Spaniard’s run in the box was not tracked, which made it easy for him to double Leipzig’s lead.
The Bavarian club’s hopes of mounting a comeback were extinguished in the second half after an individual error by Noussair Mazraoui. The Moroccan defender handled the ball in the box, which gave Olmo a chance to complete his hat trick and seal the victory.
Bayern looked vulnerable at the back whenever Leipzig was executing swift counter-attacking moves. The defending Bundesliga champions were fortunate to concede only three goals in the game. RB Leipzig had at least three brilliant goalscoring opportunities in the final quarter of the game, which further showed how poor Die Roten were defensively throughout the 90 minutes.
Thomas Tuchel needs to find the solution to this problem, or else Bayern will not be able to push for success in all competitions. Die Roten needs to become a team that is difficult to break down, which will eventually provide the right platform for the attacking players to flourish in the final third.
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There were glimpses of promise for Bayern in the final third against Leipzig. Die Roten created enough chances to score at least two goals, but poor finishing made sure Leipzig left Munich with a clean sheet. Harry Kane will help Die Roten massively in making the team prolific in the final third, but Tuchel needs to find a way to address defensive frailties to have a successful campaign.