Bayern Munich did not need to be perfect to beat SC Freiburg 3-1, but the final minutes at the Europa-Park Stadion made an otherwise comfortable afternoon unnecessarily stressful. Freiburg managed to pull one back late, briefly threatening to turn the game into a real contest, before Michael Olise punished the hosts on the counterattack to seal all three points.
After the match, SC Freiburg midfielder Vincenzo Grifo acknowledged the quality Bayern brought to the table while lamenting his team’s inability
to capitalize on its late momentum.
“Bayern have a lot of quality and didn’t allow many chances. We said at halftime that it could be a dangerous result for Bayern if we got a goal. We then got one back near the end. For them to then hit us on the counter is frustrating. We wanted to press high man to man today. Obviously there’s some risk there, as we saw with the first goal. We did a lot of things right in the second half. We told ourselves that we always need to believe in ourselves,” said Grifo (as captured by FCBayern.com).
That first goal was a perfect illustration of the danger Bayern Munich poses when opponents commit bodies forward. Dayot Upamecano drove forward and finished clinically, punishing Freiburg’s aggressive approach. Bayern’s ability to turn defensive pressure into attacking opportunities remains one of its biggest weapons.
Striker Igor Matanović was similarly impressed, even if he felt Freiburg might have deserved more.
“We played well again but are left here asking if we deserved more. We can’t blame ourselves too much, but the way Bayern play is impressive. At the end, our stadium gave us momentum again and we felt the energy. We can build on the way we played,” Matanović remarked.
Bayern Munich will appreciate the compliments, but Vincent Kompany’s side should also recognize the warning. The late goal gave Freiburg hope, and Bayern cannot afford to let promising performances become unnecessarily complicated.
The good news? When Freiburg threatened to make things interesting, Bayern had the quality to shut the door. Olise’s late finish made sure of that.
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