Pros and cons of midfield options Bayern Munich could use in João Palhinha's absence

João Palhinha has suffered an adductor injury in the Portuguese training camp ahead of their international games against Poland and Croatia. The midfielder has returned to Bayern Munich for treatment and is set to be sidelined for around three weeks. 

This injury blow puts FC Bayern in an uncomfortable position. Palhinha was enjoying a good run of form and had developed a formidable midfield pairing with Joshua Kimmich. The defensive midfielder will likely miss challenging games against PSG, Borussia Dortmund, and Bayer Leverkusen.

Head coach Vincent Kompany now needs to decide on Kimmich’s midfield partner and the right tactics that would compensate for Palhinha’s defensive value which will be a massive miss for Die Roten. Let’s look at all the possible midfield pivots Kompany could line up in the next games, in order of most likely to least likely:

Kimmich-Goretzka

The most probable option would be Bayern’s midfield return to the old days of Kimmich and Goretzka pairing. While Leon Goretzka is a shell of his former self, his experience and chemistry with Kimmich can still be somewhat valuable as Bayern go into this period of crunch matches. The duo's only start together this season came in the Bavarians' previous game against St. Pauli which ended in a narrow 1-0 win to the Bavarian club.

Kimmich-Guerriero

Raphaël Guerreiro in the midfield won’t be a bad choice as the Portuguese full-back is comfortable with the ball and is a good passer. It’s his sub-par defensive abilities that could be an issue in the big games against PSG, Dortmund, and Leverkusen. Having a midfield of Guerreiro and Kimmich could also leave Bayern light in terms of physicality against counter-attacks, even if the latter never shies away from a duel.

Kimmich-Laimer

Konrad Laimer will offer lots of intensity and counter-pressing in the midfield, however, he is known to be often left out of position, which could cause Bayern problems during transitions. He is also not the best passer, but since Kimmich usually takes the creative burden, that won’t be a big issue. The Austrian is also not necessarily a number six, and it would be interesting to see how his potential partnership with Kimmich would go.

Goretzka-Laimer

Given Joshua Kimmich’s rich vein of form and Kompany identifying him as a midfielder, the chances of him not playing in the pivot can be considered next to zero. However, it is worth mentioning that a Goretzka-Laimer pairing was fielded in multiple big games last season (Arsenal home and away, Real Madrid home) and they didn’t do too bad of a job. This midfield materialized because Thomas Tuchel preferred Kimmich as a right-back, which isn’t the case this season under Kompany. Hence, unless an injury befalls the 29-year-old, this won’t happen.

Augsburg game might be a chance to experiment 

Bayern’s first game after the international break is against FC Augsburg. Since this matchup is relatively easy and less crucial, Kompany could perhaps experiment with the midfield pivot options to find the right fit for the much more important games which will follow.

The big games coming up are:

26th October, vs PSG (home)  - crucial UCL tie. A win would put Bayern is a solid position to clinch a top 8 spot as the rest of the league phase games are much easier.

30th October, vs Dortmund (away)  -  A win would maintain Bayern’s stronghold on the league table while pushing Dortmund further away.

3rd November, vs Leverkusen (home)  - Knockout tie against defending DFB Pokal champions. Bayern haven’t managed to beat Leverkusen in their last 4 meetings (2L,2D)

The absence of Palhinha and Pavlovic has left Vincent Kompany in a huge predicament ahead of a difficult phase of the season. As of now, the club will just be hoping that Kimmich and Laimer, who have both been called up by their respective countries, return from the International break unscathed.