Die Folgen: Bayern’s 3-1 win over Köln (Bavarian Football Works)
Bayern Munich was in a tough spot.
The Bavarians are banged up, sick, and were working on a quick turnaround against an FC Köln side that was motivated and energetic in front of its home crowd. After a choppy start, the Bavarians rallied together and stormed back to a 3-1 victory on the road.
It was not a picturesque effort, but it was a hard-fought win that — once again — showed the team’s grit and resilience. Here are some quick hitters on the match:
- As always, let’s begin with a look at the starting XI:
- There were some interesting selections from Kompany for this midweek match-up as the coach was clearly keeping one eye on the weekend match-up vs. RB Leipzig. Kim Min-jae, who was coming off of thigh issues, started over Dayot Upamecano, while Serge Gnabry got the nod over Lennart Karl at the No. 10 position. Leon Goretzka took over for injured starter Joshua Kimmich in the central midfield (Tom Bischof started vs Wolfsburg) and Hiroki Itō lined up at left-back in place of Josip Stanišić (injured) and Alphonso Davies (sick).
- Kompany should have started Jonas Urbig against his old club. Manuel Neuer is almost 40-years-old and should have been given the game off.
- There was an extensive pyro delay early in the match where the smoke was overwhelming. Surely, there will be a fine to someone for the delay.
- Once play resumed, Bayern Munich had some trouble getting on the same page. It was not horrible, and, in fact, was expected for the squad coming off of the quick turnaround.
- Michael Olise had a rough start to the match. In the first 28 minutes, Olise lost possession eight times and was just 4/11 passing. That is actually worse when you consider the long pyro delay. The Frenchman ended the half with (gulp!) 17 lost possessions.
- Ragnar Ache should have scored in the 38th minute, but missed wide for the Billy Goats.
- In the 41st minute, Linton Maina dribbled from his own end of the field after an ill-advised shot attempt from Gnabry was blocked. From that point, no one from the midfield or backline could step in front of him. Maina ripped a shot that Manuel Neuer should have saved and all of a sudden it was 1-0 in favor of the home team.
- Tah, in particular, looked bad on the play.
- At some point, someone at Bayern Munich has to get through to players like Neuer and Kimmich that taking a break is okay, especially in weeks with multiple games. There is really no reason why Urbig did not play against his old squad.
- Maybe Urbig doesn’t stop the rocket from Maina (107 km/h — 66 mph), but in an English week with a quick turnaround, this should have been an Urbig match.
- Thankfully, Gnabry was able to answer after Goretzka found Olise with a long, diagonal pass. The Frenchman was decked, but he got enough on his pass to allow Gnabry to run into it, take a sensational touch, and then hit what looked to be an impossible-angle shot. 1-1 had to feel good for Bayern Munich at the 45’+5’ mark.
- It was a less-than-stellar first half for Bayern Munich, but the squad survived and came out 1-1. Not great, but not the worst either.
- Hiroki Itō had a scare early in the second half as he went down clutching his knee. He did return to the match after a brief exit.
- The grass at RheinEnergieSTADION was subpar on this night to say the least.
- Jakub Kamiński had some impressive moments for FC Köln.
- In the 56th minute Kim had a terrific recovery run to thwart a break by Kamiński. That might have been Kim’s biggest play of the season to that point until, well, see below.
- The midfield duo of Goretzka and Aleksandar Pavlović was…fine. It was really nothing special, but nothing egregiously bad either.
- In the 71st minute, Bayern Munich finally took the lead when Luis Díaz sent a long diagonal cross to Itō, who made an athletic play before going out of bounds to head the ball to Kim, who deposited the ball into the net for a 2-1 lead in what was probably the most unlikely assist-to-goal scorer combination this season for Bayern Munich. Got all that?
- In the 84th minute, an on-point clearance from Kane to a streaking Díaz allowed the Colombian to track the ball down, dribble across the top of the box, and slide a perfect pass to Karl, who had expertly drifted into space. Karl’s one-touch shot caught Schwäbe off-guard and went in the net for a 3-1 lead.
- Overall, Bayern Munich got the job done in a match that never felt like it was in doubt — even when the Bavarians fell behind. The squad is playing with a fight and a resilience that just powers them to make things happen on both ends of the pitch. It was not always pretty, but it was a hard-earned victory. On to the weekend!
If you missed our Initial Analysis, Match Awards, Observations, or Postgame Podcast, give them a look or a listen:
City not willing to pay €40M this month for Guéhi (ESPN)
As much as Manchester City wants Crystal Palace center-back Marc Guéhi, it is not going to overspend to get him this month:
Manchester City are preparing to make an offer for Crystal Palace captain Marc Guéhi this month, according to TalkSPORT. While the Premier League champions are said to be unwilling to meet Palace’s £35m asking price, a bid of some kind may go through before the January window slams shut. Guéhi, 25, is set to become a free agent at the end of the season and has been heavily linked with the likes of Liverpool and Bayern Munich in recent months. The defender is said to be “relaxed” about the prospect of seeing out his contract at Palace.
Guéhi’s alleged preference to play for Bayern Munich could create quite a stir this summer — if it is true. As a free agent, he will likely have quite a few clubs angling to bring him in.
Ryerson not on LFC’s radar (Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg)
There were rumors floating that Borussia Dortmund right-back Julian Ryerson was on Liverpool’s radar, but those appear to be unfounded:
🚨🔎 Understand Liverpool are urgently searching for a replacement for Conor #Bradley, who will be out for several months with a knee injury.
Various options are being assessed for the current transfer window.
❌ Been told that Julian Ryerson is currently not a candidate for #LFC. #BVB
@SkySportDE
🏴
Kanté on verge of move to Fenerbahçe? (ESPN)
Al Ittihad midfielder N’Golo Kanté is close to making a move to Fenerbahçe:
Al Ittihad midfielder N’Golo Kanté is “very close” to agreeing terms with Fenerbahçe following a positive meeting with the club, Fabrizio Romano reports. The French international is set to be out of contract this summer, after three seasons in the Saudi Pro League. As per Romano, negotiations between Al-Ittihad and Fenerbahçe over a transfer fee are ongoing, as the Saudi side do not want to lose Kanté on a free.
Arteta hypes up Havertz (Fabrizio Romano)
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta cannot wait to get a fully healthy Kai Havertz back:
❤️🤍 Arteta: “I was just watching Kai Havertz move and his awareness, the way he needs to move, when he needs to move, in relation to what he moves.”
“We miss him big time. He’s back with us and now we need to maintain his fitness because he’s a very important player for us.”
Hamann says Gunners will win EPL (JeffBet)
Noted pundit Didi Hamann says that Arsenal will win the Premier League.
“My Premier League top four is Arsenal first, Chelsea second, Man City third and Liverpool fourth. I think Chelsea can go on a run and win six or seven on the spin, but I’m not sure it will be enough to catch Arsenal. Arsenal got away with the three points against Wolves, but they do need to start scoring goals in open play,” Hamann told JeffBet. “It’s a long season, and there will come a time in February or March, and if Arsenal still have a gap at the top, the pressure will ramp up because it will be their title to lose. A lot can happen. Guardiola is probably holding Rodri back at the moment, he would be a huge boost to Man City’s title challenge, but we’ll have to see if he comes back the same player he was before.”
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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