After success in the Supercup, José Barcala’s side kicked off their title defence last weekend with a 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen. This time, they would get a chance to play in the Red Bull Arena in front of over 10,000 fans. A little drop off from the spectacular attendance at the Allianz Arena last time out, but nonetheless impressive.
Barcala made four changes to the starting line up from the victory against Leverkusen in the Allianz Arena; Stine Ballisager replaced Magdalena Eriksson, Lena Oberdorf
started in place of Sarah Zadrazil in midfield, and both Klara Bühl and Pernille Harder started in attack, replacing Linda Dallmann and Lea Schüller.
The Bayern XI was as follows:
Ena Mahmutovic (GK) – Franziska Kett, Vanessa Gilles, Stine Ballisager, Carolin Simon – Lena Oberdorf, Georgia Stanway – Klara Bühl, Momoko Tanikawa, Jovana Damnjanović, Pernille Harder
The Munich Frauen continue to be without Barbara Dunst (cruciate ligament), Giulia Gwinn (knee), and Glódis Perla Viggósdóttir (knee).
RB Leipzig finished last campaign in 8th place, comfortably clear of any relegation scares. An ambitious club, they would surely be wanting to move higher in the table this season, as well as impressing the 10,287 fans in attendance.
The Match
Bayern began the game in typical dominant fashion, controlling the vast majority of possession and limiting Leipzig to half-chances at best. The first Bayern chance came in the 6th minute, after a long ball from Simon landed on Harder’s boot, but she was unable to keep the shot down and it flew over the bar.
Harder was involved again soon after in the 9th minute, where a beautifully weighted ball from Tanikawa was played in behind the defence. Harder was unable to lift the ball over the keeper this time, and it deflected wide for a Bayern corner. From that corner, Bühl showed her quality by delivering a dangerous ball into the box, where Oberdorf rose highest to head past a helpless Herzog in goal.
A first league goal for Bayern in her first league start, a brilliant way to announce herself to the Bayern faithful.
It took until the 21st minute for the next chance, when Stanway played a ball into Bühl, but her left-footed shot was straight at the keeper. Minutes later, Harder showed some ingenuity by flicking the ball in the box into the path of Tanikawa, but her shot was blocked at point blank-range.
In the 32nd minute, Bühl was able to find space and cross into the centre of the box from the left side, but Tanikawa’s was stretching to reach it and her header glanced wide.
The final action of the half was a guilt-edged chance for Bühl following an outside of the boot pass from Stanway, but her effort one-on-one with the keeper was straight at her.
Going into the break, Leipzig would have surely felt like they got away with one there, only conceding the one. They would have to produce a more convincing performance in the 2nd half if they were going to get anything from this game.
Luckily, from a Bayern perspective at least, they failed to do so. Bayern started the 2nd half in much the same way as they finished the 1st. Bayern were knocking on the door for the 2nd, and if they had some more luck they could have been home and dry. Bühl failed to find Harder in the 50th, and a deflected shot by Stanway in the 55th caused some panic in the Leipzig goal. The pressure eventually bore fruit, but from an unexpected source. Oberdorf received the ball on the edge of the box, chopped it onto her weaker left foot, and curled a ball sensationally into the far corner, 0-2! When Bayern signed her from eternal rivals Wolfsburg, I am sure they did expect this sort of goalscoring prowess. The strike was so fierce and curled viciously away from Herzog in goal; unsaveable. A brace on her league debut; incredible!
Oberdorf got her well deserved rest in the 64th, as well as Simon, as they were replaced by Sarah Zadrazil and Katharina Naschenweng respectively. A brilliant moment for the latter, as she made her return to competitive action for Bayern following an ACL tear, which made her miss the entirety of last season, alongside Oberdorf.
In the 70th minute, further changes were made. Kett and Harder were withdrawn for Tuva Hansen and Lea Schüller. The final change came in the 83rd, where Alara Şehitler replaced Damnjanović.
Bayern were in complete control, and Tanikawa almost put the cherry on top with a rifled long range effort in the 86th minute that crashed off the post, leaving Herzog in goal relieved. However, that relief would not last, as Gilles rose highest at the near post to head in a Bühl corner in added time, 3-0! Gilles had a knack in her former club Lyon for scoring headers, and we are happy to see that trend continuing in a Bayern shirt. Two goals in two is a good record for a striker, let alone a centre back!
Conclusions
As the squad and the coaching staff settle in for the new season, and the games start coming thick and fast, Bayern will be pleased to have started as they mean to go on. Two matches, two wins and two clean sheets will be particularly pleasing to Barcala and his team.
Leipzig have some real talent, but Bayern’s defenders consistently broke up their attacks before chances could be created, which meant that Mahmutovic was barely involved. In the past, Bayern have tended to show this dominance against the relegation sides but occasionally struggle to show the same face against the mid-table sides. Perhaps a sign to come of what this squad can do to domestic opposition.
Bayern will continue to grow as the players become more attuned to Barcala’s ideas, and the hope is that Barcala begins to understand and utilise his squad in the right way in the tighter matches. Two important wins against ambitious clubs sets you on the correct path, but that does not guarantee success in the UWCL and DFB-Pokal fixtures, that are now fast approaching.
Next up for the Munich Frauen, they will return to the campus next week to host Carl Zeiss Jena on Saturday, 20th September.
