Bayern beats Frankfurt safely, and tediously, with eyes on Real Madrid for Tuesday

This article written by Rainer Pompermayer

Tuchel, keeping a close eye on the injury list and the match against Real Madrid on Tuesday, sent out a starting eleven with some different options with Neuer in goal, Kimmich, de Ligt, Dier and Mazroui at the back, Goretzka and Laimer in midfield, and Müller, Guerreiro, Choupo-Moting and Kane up front. 

The match started well, with Bayern controlling the ball and scoring early with Kane, after a good run from Laimer, before losing a bit of the focus and allowing Ekitiké score and tie the match. Bayern had some good chances at the end of the first half, but needed a stupid penalty in the second half to make it 2-1 through Kane again. The rest of the match passed with some chances for Bayern, but nothing that could change the score in the end.

Three Things We Noticed

Safe Win, But With Some Alarms

Looking at the full match, we should have had a way easier win. Since Bayern had an xG over 3.5 and Frankfurt had less than 0.8, the only goal came from a shot way out of the box in a really individual play. But that’s something that should raise some alarm bells in Tuchel and the team’s head ahead of Madrid. Bayern needs to be ruthless in attack, taking better advantage of their chances and being more compact in front of the area, not giving space to the opposition. 

Focused on Tuesday

Whether it was Tuchel’s lineup, the way the players entered into duels, the changes in the second half or how the team slowed down in the second half, it was very clear that the Bavarians had their minds on Tuesday’s game against Real Madrid especially after the second goal and retaking the lead.

Most likely this was aided by Frankfurt who didn’t have much to play for in this match, being five points ahead of Freiburg and twelve behind Dortmund. This Bayern team has only one goal left in the season and will focus all of its efforts on it. Of course it probably won’t be enough to win the UCL trophy, but they still want to at least have a good run while the hope lasts.

No More Injuries Please

It was really hard to see Laimer come off injured in the first half after finally starting to have a good run in recent matches and providing the breakthrough in the first goal today. It was also really worrisome to see de Ligt falling to the turf after a bad header dual with an opponent. It was even more concerning to see that he didn’t come back for the second half. Considering all the current injuries, players coming back from injuries and others doubts for Tuesday (like Musiala out of nowhere), we need to really hope that the two players will not be added to this injury list in such an important week. 

Bayern Player of the Match

Harry Kane, even though Müller had some nice involvements and Guerreiro once again showed that he can be a serious option at the left wing, Kane provided the only goals in the match once again and showed why he is by far the most prolific scorer in Europe this season. 

Bayern “That was Tough to Watch” Player

Yeah… Even though we didn’t have any player performing horribly today, and he came to the pitch only at the 69 minute, it is still hard not to pick Davies again today. The Canadian looked simply “off” once again, losing possession at least six times and simply isolating the ball near the Südkurve in the only dangerous attack he was part of. It’s hard to know what will happen in the near future, but it’s clear that neither Bayern nor Real Madrid would really invest much in the 2020 golden boy right now. 

LINE UPS AND GOALS:

FC Bayern: Neuer – Kimmich (69’ Tel), de Ligt (46’ Kim), Dier, Mazraoui (69’ Davies) – Laimer (28’ Pavlović), Goretzka, Müller, Guerreiro (81’ Zvonarek), Choupo-Moting – Kane

Frankfurt: Trapp – Buta (77’ van de Beek), Tuta, R. Koch, Pacho – Götze (77’ Götze), Skhiri (88’ Chandler), Knauff, Marmoush, Dina Ebimbe (70’ Nkounkou) – Ekitiké (70’ Bahoya)

Goals: 1:0 Kane (9’), 1:1 Ekitiké (23’), 2:1 Kane (61’)

Yellow cards: Koch (60’), Skhiri & Götze (62’)