Where it went wrong for Bayern Munich in Frankfurt?
On matchday six of the Bundesliga, table toppers Bayern Munich visited second-placed Eintracht Frankfurt as they looked to return to winning ways after two poor results. Unfortunately, Bayern couldn’t get the better of the Bundesliga’s most in-form team at the moment and had to settle for a 3-3 draw.
It was a highly entertaining game that neutrals may have been wishing would never end. However, from Bayern's perspective, it played out all too similarly to the 1-1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen at the Allianz Arena on matchday five, and the 1-0 loss in England against Aston Villa in the Champions League on Wednesday.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Die Roten at Deutsche Bank Park as the draw was enough to retain the top spot in the points table ahead of the October international break. However, with Bayern once again failing to win a game in which they dominated in every major category, except goals, there is genuine cause for concern. Let us now examine what could have been better for the visitors.
Containing Omar Marmoush
In addition to Frankfurt currently being the Bundesliga’s in-form team, their talismanic forward Omar Marmoush is also the league’s top goalscorer. The 25-year-old Egyptian international came into the game on six goals, one more than Harry Kane. With two superb strikes on the counter-attack, he increased his goal tally on the season to eight and extended his lead over the Englishman, who failed to get on the scoresheet.
Bayern were commanding with the ball; dominated possession and pressed well. However, the necessary adjustments, since the last two games, weren’t made as they were caught on the break repeatedly with Marmoush setting up Frankfurt’s second goal in between his brace. With options in central defense limited due to injuries, Kompany should have ensured that his defenders showed more respect to the Egyptian forward. It would appear that the lessons from the last two games, particularly against Aston Villa, are still being learned. When those lessons do sink in, the Belgian coach and his team would fare better against teams that prefer to sit deep and play on the counter-attack.