Luis Diaz may have stolen the show in Bayern Munich's Saturday victory against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga with two goals and an assist. Meanwhile, Harry Kane stayed in the media focal point after continuing his barrage of goals to start the season with a beautiful curve shot outside the box. But one element in Die Roten's impressive 3-0 beatdown went under the radar: the defence.
Bayern Munich kept a clean sheet in Frankfurt. Sure, not conceding is such a normal thing in football. It occurs in dozens of matches every week in the European top flights. Manuel Neuer has done it 216 times in his illustrious Bundesliga career. But what made this one so satisfying for Bayern fans?
First, it was an away fixture against one of the best attacks in the world this season. This is not an exaggeration. Eintracht Frankfurt has scored 17 goals this year in the Bundesliga, ranking second in the league, only behind Bayern Munich. They are averaging more goals per game in the league than footballing powerhouses like Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Manchester City. Former Bayern assistant coach Dino Toppmoller has turned this young, aspiring squad into an offensive machine. Last week, they destroyed Gladbach's defence with six goals in slightly more than 45 minutes of play.
That said, Bayern Munich has held this fearsome attack to only six total shots, with a singular one on target. Apart from the only big chance from Ritsu Doan, Eintracht could not penetrate Bayern's box and had to take their chances from long-distance efforts. The home side's expected goals for that match were 0.32, a season low. This magnificent defensive feat was a result of thoughtful game planning and the execution of the whole team.
Countering the counterattacks
Eintracht Frankfurt optimises the high line and intense pressing to create chances. They feast on unforced turnovers to open up quick scoring chances. Dino Toppmoller also had clinical finishers who were always ready to capitalise on spaces abandoned by the defence. This is shown in the disallowed goal by Jean-Matteo Bahoya in the first half with a cool finish to the top corner.
Bayern was in a lot of trouble facing Eintracht's relentless off-the-ball work in the first half. Only Manuel Neuer's brilliance prevented the opposition from grabbing the equaliser. In the second half, the introduction of Aleksandar Pavlovic in place of Leon Goretzka helped Bayern evade the press much better. Progressing the ball well under pressure nullified Die Adler's constant defensive pursuit and counterattacking forte. Bayern were able to dictate the tempo of the game from that point. After all, attacking is the best way to defend.
Individual brilliance
The clean sheet was an outcome of a well-oiled system. But no defensive feat can be done without a good backline, a major compliment to Bayern's back four that day. They outclassed their direct matchup the whole 90 minutes. Jonathan Tah and Dayot Upamecano maintained great width to support each other. The centre-back duo suffocated Jonathan Burkardt, giving the German international no inch of space to operate. Sacha Boey and Konrad Laimer also worked tirelessly to contain the skilful Bahoya and Doan. Manuel Neuer played really well, making a crucial save and being a vocal leader.
There was no shakiness, no glimpses of distraction or miscommunication, even on counterattacks, where Bayern is usually the most vulnerable. You can tell when the team is fully focused on the task at hand. The mentality is felt through the screen.
A final round of applause to Vincent Kompany. He has proved that he is more than an offensive mastermind, but also capable of playing tight defensive football. The Belgian gaffer once again identified the problem well and solved it quickly; in this case, it was the decision to sub on Pavlovic. Hope Kompany and Bayern can continue this encouraging trend in future matches against top attacking teams.
Stats courtesy- Fotmob