Bayern Munich: Tactical takeaways from 3-0 win against Freiburg
With Leverkusen, Stuttgart, Dortmund, and Hoffenheim all registering wins on matchday seven, Bayern Munich hosted Freiburg at the Allianz Arena on Sunday. Nothing less than victory would have sufficed to regain third place in the standings. Die Roten delivered a convincing display to get the job done and claim all three points.
Thomas Tuchel made two personnel changes to the XI that started against Copenhagen on Tuesday. Konrad Laimer had to settle for a place among the substitutes as Leon Goretzka was preferred over him to form the midfield pivot alongside Joshua Kimmich. Two of the heroes from the victory in Copenhagen swapped places as Thomas Muller replaced Jamal Musiala in the number ten role.
Bayern dominated from the word go with different tactics in attack
As expected, Bayern lined up in its customary 4-2-3-1 formation. However, Kingsley Coman and Leroy Sané lined up as orthodox wingers instead of inverted ones.
The change in approach from Bayern in the attack worked brilliantly on Sunday. Both wingers scored for Die Roten and delivered impressive performances throughout the game with immaculate dribbling, passing, and link-up play.
Collectively, the Bavarian side made its intentions clear from the start. In the third minute, Goretzka headed wide from a Kimmich corner. After a few minutes, Kimmich himself came close to scoring directly from an in-swinging corner, but Freiburg forward Lucas Holer did well to head the ball clear for another corner. Die Roten set the tone of the game with a solid and fast start.
Compact from back to front and played with a consistent pace
Based on the performance against Freiburg, it would appear that Bayern have resolved the defensive problems as midfield and defense were very well coordinated and there was no disconnect between the two crucial units on the pitch.
Toothless Freiburg didn’t register a shot on goal but credit has to be given to Kim Min-jae for reading the game as well as he did and how well he brought others into the game. The timing of his short and medium-range passes encouraged Bayern’s midfielders and attackers to maintain the tempo. Min-jae and Upamecano looked assured at the back, passed well between the lines, and covered well for each other to snuff out any danger. The duo should be looking to build on this performance going forward.
In a game that was near flawless in terms of tactical execution, the only disappointments were the disallowed beauty of a goal from Sane and ultimately the final scoreline. It should have been a much bigger scoreline that would have done justice to Die Roten’s dominance.
Coman was lucky with the opening goal, but in the 77th minute, he should have gone for the goal himself instead of passing to Mathys Tel who was clearly in an offside position. Nonetheless, Coman was the outstanding player in the game and deservedly completed his brace in the 85th minute.
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After the international break over the next two weeks, Rekordmeister will resume Bundesliga action on October 21 away at Mainz. Upon the resumption of competitive football after the international break, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Tuchel deploy a similar lineup and tactics that yielded a great performance against Freiburg. The German coach and the Bavarian faithful will hope that players don’t return with injuries from the international break.