Bayern Hold Off Late Surge By Celtic
February 13, 2025 Vincent Kompany made a few changes to the side that beat Werder Bremen at the weekend with Manuel Neuer, Konrad Laimer, Dayot Upamecano, Eric Dier, Raphaël Guerreiro, Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Leroy Sané, Jamal Musiala, Michael Olise and Harry Kane making up the starting eleven.
Three Things We Noticed
Some Finishing
Once again Bayern created a plethora of chances in this match. Once again, they started the match by missing many of those chances. Some of them badly.
However, just before the end of the first half, Upamecano made a very nice pass over the top to Olise who took it down and blasted it into the top near corner. It must be said that Olise was fantastic in this match and one of the few who consistently hit the ball on target.
Kane, following a few bad misses, also found his feet. Early in the second half, Kane found himself wide open at the far post on a corner kick and volleyed the ball home with east to put Bayern up by two goals at the time.
Focus
Until the 75th minute, Bayern seemed to have this match under complete control. Then the seemingly inevitable errors started to rear their head.
Bayern made multiple back passes that left their intended target, usually Neuer, scrambling to clear the ball from an on running Celtic player.
That of course was bound to cause a problem and ultimately Celtic capitalized after several near misses as Guerreiro played a horrendous ball back to Neuer who had no chance to clear as Daizen Maeda easily took the ball and finished.
These mistakes are ones that have nothing to do with the system, the opponent or Kompany. This is on the players. It is a lack of focus and carelessness and it is nothing new this season.
Consistency
Bayern have continually made these types of mistakes, especially late in games. It has become one of their hallmark tendencies throughout the season.
If Bayern are to reach their full potential this season, they will need to find a way to not lose their focus at the end of games. They need consistency in their play for 90 minutes.
Yes Kompany has to find a way to get this out of his player but the players themselves really need to figure out why it is happening and fix it. Whether it is overconfidence, fatigue or some thing else, they cannot afford to give the ball away so easily for no other reason than carelessness.
As mentioned earlier, this Saturday will be a huge test as they travel to take on Leverkusen in a match that could have a massive impact on the league this season. A win almost certainly sets them on a path to the Bundesliga title. A loss could get Leverkusen right back in the fight for the league while a draw, all things considered, would at least put a dent in Bayer’s hopes this season. It is a match that Munich needs to get a result from and that will take all their focus.
