Bayern Munich: Takeaways from crucial 1-0 win over Benfica

On matchday four of the ongoing European Champions League, Bayern Munich needed to come away with all three points when they hosted a resolute Benfica side at the Allianz Arena. Bayern were 25th in the points table before the game since they collected three points from three matches after having uncharacteristically lost their two most recent matches in the tournament, both away from home.

With Benfica content to sit deep from the word go, in an ultra-defensive 5-3-2 formation, Bayern had to dig deep to get the 1-0 victory despite dominating possession. With the win against Benfica, Bayern leapfrogged from 25th to 17th position; still not good enough for direct qualification for the knock-out phase of the competition, but within striking distance of that goal.

From a game that provided many positives despite the slender margin of victory let us take a look at the key takeaways from Wednesday’s all-important victory.

Bayern excel with a high defensive line

So far this season, despite sitting on top of the Bundesliga with an unbeaten record, Vincent Kompany has come under the microscope for playing a high defensive line which quite often has been punished on the counter-attack. Whilst Bayern has avoided defeat in the Bundesliga with that high-risk/high-reward style of play, the same can’t be said of the team in the Champions League. In defeats against Aston Villa and FC Barcelona, Die Roten were undone on the counter-attack despite having the lion’s share of possession.

In the game against Benfica, there was a marked improvement compared to the aforementioned losses. Bayern pinned the Portuguese team in their half for most of the game while enjoying 74% ball possession. Despite winning by the slenderest of margins, Bayern didn’t allow the opposition a single shot on goal, whilst forcing nine saves from Benfica’s goalkeeper – Anatoliy Trubin.

Benfica did try the odd counter-attack, but Kim Min-jae and Dayot Upamecano were up to the task. The South Korean defender was arguably the man-of-the-match with Upamecano not too far behind on a night when the fullbacks- Alphonso Davies and Konrad Laimer also played well.