On Saturday, following the recently concluded international break, Bayern Munich resumed action in the Bundesliga when they hosted 15th-placed St. Pauli at the Allianz Arena.
The 3-2 victory was thoroughly deserved as Bayern started the game on the front foot and looked the better team from start to finish. However, the home team’s performance on the evening was a mixed bag. Despite scoring three goals and looking dangerous when going forward, at the other end of the pitch, without the services of Dayot Upamecano and Alphonso Davies, the defense looked far from convincing.
With both Dayot Upamecano and Alphonso Davies absent due to major injuries recently sustained while on international duty for France and Canada, respectively, Eric Dier started alongside Kim Min-jae centrally, whilst Raphael Guerreiro replaced Davies at left-back.
Having pointed out the fact that Bayern played without their two key defenders, let’s now take a look at some key takeaways from the surprisingly slender 3-2 victory over St. Pauli.