On matchday seven of the newly- formatted European Champions League Bayern Munich suffered a surprising and embarrassing 3-0 defeat at the feet of Dutch side – Feyenoord Rotterdam.
Feyenoord came into the match in poor form having won only once in their last four domestic-league outings. Based on current form, Bayern were the clear favourites, but instead of the expected victory, the Bavarian side blew, what was on paper, an excellent opportunity to bag three points on the road and crack the top eight in the Champion League standings. Let us now look at where things went wrong for Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
High-line defense brought risk without reward
As per the norm, Bayern Munich dominated possession from the opening whistle. However, they looked sluggish early on and incapable of breaking through Feyenoord’s low-block defense. Whether or not that was due to the early interruption in the match because of smoke from pyrotechnics from the home fans or the rain is anyone’s guess.
In recent games it appeared as if Vincent Kompany had made the necessary tactical adjustments so that his side would be less vulnerable to the counter-attack from sides that were defending deep. However, in Rotterdam the opposite was true as Bayern were caught on the break for all three goals. This may have been a result of underestimating the opponent as Bayern’s high-line seemed just as high as it was earlier on in the season.