Bayern 2-0 Wolfsburg: The Bavarian kids secure a win against the wolves 

This article written by Rainer Pompermayer

Missing even more injured players than last week, and granting some young player a chance to play in a Bundesliga match before the season is over, Tuchel sent a really unusual first eleven with Upamecano, Kim, Davies back and Zvonarek, Bryan Zaragoza and Tel also receiving a chance to shine. 

Bayern managed to score before the clock hit the 5th minute via the debutant Zvonarek and a couple minutes later with Goretzka. Bryan Zaragoza also scored a third just a couple minutes later but it was correctly disallowed for offsides. After that, there were just a few minor chances and a lot of substitutions and debuts with the match ending with just the 2-0 in the scoresheet.

THREE THINGS WE NOTICED:

Electric start, sleep end

The match started really well, with the kids wreaking havoc in the Wolfsburg defense and  Bayern scoring two “official” goals (and one disallowed) before the 20th minute mark. But the rhythm started to decrease a bit after this, before almost coming to a complete stop to the end of the first half.

In the second half we had even less exciting moments and with a lot of substitutions, including an unusual one with Neuer coming out to give Daniel Peretz his first Bundesliga and Allianz Arena match, it was clear that not much was going to happen. This is something that we can expect from a match that didn’t have much value, but still is something that probably the board will consider in the squad planning for the next season. 

Uncle Thomas Send the Kids to Have Some Fun

As mentioned above, we had Zvonarek making his starting debut, Bryan was given an opportunity to show his skills for more than 30 minutes, and in the second half we had Peretz, Pérez Vinlöf and Asp Jensen come in.

Of course with all the injuries, Tuchel didn’t have a full squad available, but he also knew that was a perfect opportunity to give these young and promising players a chance to show themselves in an official match. And some of them really paid his trust back, especially Bryan and Zvonarek. Both were really good and managed to have some nice moments in the attack.

Without forgetting Pavlovic, he had another secure match and, even with his young age, looked like a veteran besides his younger teammates. In a moment with so many questions and uncertainty, it is great to see some young players from the academy showing that we probably will have a nice future ahead. 

Pre-Holiday Vibe

Last match of the season at the Allianz Arena, no chance of title, Champions League sport secure, the coach leaving, etc. It was clear that there wasn’t much to play for, besides the lightning start everyone was a bit chill today and the mood was definitely good.

Tuchel definitely helped with all the youngsters having their chances and the substitutions, but it seems that after the Madrid match, everyone is counting the minutes before the season is over, like when you are at your office on the last Friday before a long vacation. And, truth be told, I completely understand and also I’m absolutely sure that both this match and next weekend’s one combined won’t even come close to making the headlines about all the drama surrounding the search for a new coach in the coming days.

BAYERN PLAYER OF THE MATCH:

Goretzka and Pavlovic had a secure game today, with Leon even scoring one nice goal. But I would give this “award” to either Zvonarek or Bryan Zaragoza. The young Croatian received his first big chance at the professional level and displayed some good moments, including the first goal. While the diminutive Spaniard finally had more than a couple minutes and was probably the most dangerous offensive player in the first half. Besides his disallowed goal, he also made a great run followed by a great cross in the second Bayern goal. 

BAYERN “WE KNOW YOU CAN DO BETTER SON” PLAYER: 

To be fair, none of the players today were bad. But if we need to highlight someone that didn’t have a good match, unfortunately this one is Mathys Tel. The young Frenchman was on the pitch for 90 minutes, and was clearly the one that had the least impact on the field. He lost most of his duels, held the ball when another teammate was in a better position more than once and lost possession of the ball at least ten times during the match. We all knew It would be impossible for Mathys to continue his amazing run from the beginning of the season, but it is really unfortunate to see the Frenchman struggling so much in the last months. But, even with these poor recent displays, I’m pretty sure that he will bounce back and continue to evolve into a great player in the next few years. 

LINE UPS AND GOALS:

FC Bayern: Neuer (74’ Peretz)- Kimmich, Upamecano, Kim (75’ De Ligt), Davies – Pavlović, Goretzka (74’ Laimer) – Zvonarek (75’ Asp Jensen), Müller, Bryan Zaragoza (75’ Pérez Vinlöf) – Tel 

Wolfsburg: Casteels – Lacroix, Bornauw, Jenz (46’ Zesiger) – Baku (79’ Cerny), Mæhle, Arnold, Wimmer (46’ Kaminski ), Paredes (79’ Tomás) – Majer,  Wind (79’ Pejčinović)

Goals: 1:0 Zvonarek (4’), 2:0 Goretzka (13’)

Yellow cards: Majer (53’) and Lacroix (93’)