On Saturday, Bayern Munich brought the curtain down on the 2024/25 Bundesliga season in a grand fashion at Hoffenheim. After a rather uneventful opening half hour, Bayern took the lead in the 33rd minute, courtesy of an excellent direct free kick from Michael Olise.
Die Roten added three more goals in the second half to trounce the host team 4-0 without ever having to reach top gear; such was the difference in class between the two teams.
The travelling Bayern fans would have left the Rhein-Necker Arena fully satisfied. There was the bonus of seeing Tom Bischoff in his last game for Hoffenheim before he becomes a Bayern Munich player. However, despite some top-notch performances from a few Bayern players, the real bitter/sweet moment was seeing Thomas Muller play his last Bundesliga game for the Bavarian giants. Let’s now take a look at some key takeaways from Bayern Munich’s matchday-34 victory over Hoffenheim.
Odd lack of squad rotation from Vincent Kompany
Considering it was the final game of the season and the title had already been wrapped up, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see Vincent Kompany send out a starting XI that included some fringe players. However, that wasn’t the case. The only notable omission from the starting XI was Harry Kane. Serge Gnabry started in his place at center-forward.
Even with further contract negotiations seemingly off the table for Leroy Sané, his absence from the starting lineup wouldn’t have come as a surprise. However, the same can’t be said for João Palhinha. Despite being fit, the 29-year-old defensive midfielder was once again overlooked by Kompany. With that being the case, it now seems even more likely that a summer departure is on the cards for the Portuguese international, despite his desire to stay and prove himself in Bavaria.