Mentality
Look, this was not easy. Sure, Bayern Munich may be the big bad Bundesliga top dogs, but recent circumstances have been…distracting, to say the least. Injuries left and right. A coach who collapsed after a training session and is still out of service. A star player dealing with family grief. These are moments where a team either rallies together, or falls apart.
Bayern picked the former.
Magdeburg is not exactly a slouch of a team, either. The visitors came into this one on the heels of a 6-1 trouncing
of Karlsruher, and despite playing in the 2. Bundesliga, they were as good a bet as any team to capture a sprinkling of German cup pixie dust and pull off the impossible. Don’t lie — when Mateusz Żukowski’s deflected wonder-strike flew by a hapless Jonas Urbig to equalize after just 15 minutes, you had your doubts too. Oh, here we go again.
Yes, the gulf in quality and resources — as much as Bayern was missing on the night — was still vast. But for Bayern to turn it around from there, and calmly and easily dispatch the visitors such that by midway through the second half it was a training-ground pace exercise, is not to be taken for granted. Vincent Kompany’s assistant, Aaron Danks, is doing a great job steadying the ship in the bossman’s absence and it is starting to feel like the Bavarians are going to make the absolute most out of this early-season bout against adversity.
The season hadn’t started on the smoothest footing to begin with. Still, there is nothing like a few socks to the stomach to wake a sleeping tiger.
Redemption
Speaking of slow starts, this was a game for redemptive performances.
Lennart Karl had been stumbling his way so often through his performances this year that his sophomore slump became a talking point. Bayern’s much-praised summer signings, Ismael Saibari and Nathaniel Brown, had both also been shuffling in and out of the lineup, posting a few outings that left much to be desired.
So it was good to see everyone come together at once. Let’s talk Karl first. How about that? Influential all over the pitch, the 18-year-old showed his bona fides as a playmaker. For once, it wasn’t his sumptuous strikes doing the talking (though he did have a go at a bicycle kick late) — it was his passing. His sharp toe-poke assist for Alphonso Davies — after making the run himself to get 1-on-1 with the keeper in the box—was excellent quick-thinking and showed the unselfishness you want your attacking midfielders to have instinctively. His outside-the-boot ping moments later, serving as the hockey assist to Nathaniel Brown’s goal, was even better. Magdeburg did not make it easy to find passing lanes, but Karl, who to be fair was hardly alone in this, had the key to pick the lock.
Saibari’s super shift as a central attacker was also reassuring after his display against Arsenal. The Moroccan forward isn’t the paciest presence, so he needs to make up for that with composure in his decision-making and on-point technical execution. He had both in spades today, and in Harry Kane’s absence, too. That could be huge — Bayern needed to show they can run the show as well as they did today without the Ballon d’Or winner.
Finally, Brown. The left-back capped off a 90-minute performance with a well-taken goal, popping up in the center of the box to get on the end of Alphonso Davies’ square ball. Davies is looking like he’ll see a lot of time in the forward lines this year, so all the better that Brown can develop as a left-back option. And like Davies, Brown has that penchant for getting involved all over the pitch.
Wait — finally finally? We’ve got to give some shoutouts here to Sacha Boey and Hiroki Itō. Two of Bayern’s forgotten men, both believed to be on the chopping block at some point this summer (or in Boey’s case, since… uh, longer). It was just nice to see both in action. Itō got the start, took an unlucky deflection, but was sharp and solid at left center-back. He made the interception to spring Bayern’s second goal. Boey had a smart interception of his own late on, having been subbed on in the 68th minute for Michael Olise. Both players should still have a part to play in this season.
Hunger
As the DFB commentators alluded to, Bayern just is not normal. It is not normal for a team this stacked with talent and accolades, individually and collectively, to stay this hungry for wins and goals all the time. That is something more than the mentality to dig deep when things aren’t going well; it’s about setting standards and how to keep them. There have been times lately where you wonder if they really can.
After the season Bayern had last year — smashing goal records and coming so close in the Champions League, particularly with the turnover — Joshua Kimmich famously hates losing so much it is bordering on unhealthy. Will Bayern’s next generation have the same drive? Today, it sure looked like it. Even 5-1 up, everyone from Karl to Olise was hounding Magdeburg players on the ball to the end. That, of course, is how you get to 6-1.
Looking ahead, by the way: Bayern’s goal-scoring pace in the league this year is 3.57 per game after seven Bundesliga matchdays. Last season’s record-setting performance was 3.59. No game like Der Klassiker to pump those numbers up, eh?
Danger
All that said, the danger is not gone. We do need to return to that goal, because Bayern really is showing a bit of wobble in defense this year. It was a great strike, yes, and also a deflection — but it was also initiated by a fairly careless giveaway up the field, with little cover behind.
Thus, it wasn’t totally a “well, what can you do” sort of goal—it was an oh no, Bayern did that again goal. Out of nowhere, a player or two can switch off, and the big bad German champs can be gotten at. If this is the year to bring home European hardware, Bayern has to clean this stuff up.
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