Three things we noticed: FC Augsburg – FC Bayern Munich 1-4 (1-2)

With this win, Bayern manifested their dominating role during the 2010s. It’s the seventh league title during this period, interrupted only by two Dortmund championships.

Three things we noticed:

1. Defining an era

Bayern’s sixth title in a row is a sign of an era that has never been there before in Bundesliga history. It shows the incredible job the Munich team have done in many areas. Going back to youth development in the 2000’s, followed by smart transfers with few mistakes and lots of talent that improved the squad from the outside. This season, it became obvious that things couldn’t go on as they were with Carlo Ancelotti. The decision was made early enough that it left a large chunk of the season still ahead of the team – enough to catch up with the other teams and build up an advantage in points. Jupp Heynckes was a big part of this, returning from retirement to rebuild the structure within the team. However, this season more than ever, the title was decided by inidividual players’ quality. Lewandowski once again, but also Kimmich and James are some of the winners this season.

2. No midfield

Bayern found it very hard this afternoon to play around Augsburg’s offensive pressing. After 25 minutes, Sebastian Rudy had 11 touches on the ball, Tolisso had 12. This goes to show how well FCA managed to redirect Bayern’s offensive action to the wings – an area where Jupp Heynckes’ team failed to find any structure. It also shows how the team struggled to put the right players in the right positions going forward. Rudy, first and foremost, should have become more active much sooner to support his defense. James and Tolisso also were too high up the pitch in the beginning, which made the distances between the separate parts of the team disproportionate. Since Bernat and Rafinha aren’t the kind of players who can dissolve these situations with a good dribble, it was 30 minutes until the first shot on goal for the Munich team.

In the second half, Augsburg changed tactics; instead of offensive pressing, they retreated further back over time and left the playing field to Bayern. The problems of the first half were forgotten.

3. James

It had been a surprise that the Columbian wasn’t part of the starting eleven in Sevilla and only got subbed in after Arturo Vidal had to come off with an injury. He immediately gave the team more security, and continued his good performance against Augsburg: one goal and one assist secured Bayern’s championship. In a little more than 60 minutes, he had 68 actions on the ball, won 50% of his duels. Apart from the assist, he also prepared two more shots for Bayern. Even though his performance wasn’t perfect due to the first 30 minutes, he was key for Bayern’s game along with Kimmich and Robben. It’s not surprising that FC Bayern are keen to keep the player for longer than his current contract until 2019.

FC Augsburg – FC Bayern 1-4 (1-2)
FC Augsburg	Hitz – Schmid, Gouweleeuw, Hinteregger, Max – Khedira, Baier (89. Janker) – Koo, Gregoritsch (80. Morávek), Caiuby – Cordova (62. Richter)
Bench	Luthe, Heller, Parker, Kacar
FC Bayern	Ulreich – Kimmich, Süle, Boateng, Rafinha – Rudy – Robben (83. Müller), Tolisso, James (64. Martínez), Bernat (82. Ribéry) – Wagner
Bench	Starke, Hummels, Thiago, Lewandowski
Goals	1:0 Süle (18., OG), 1:1 Tolisso (32.), 1:2 James (38.), 1:3 Robben (62.), 1:4 Wagner (87.)
Yellow Cards	Gregoritsch, Khedira, Baier / Boateng
Referee­	Markus Schmidt (Stuttgart)
Attendance	30,660 (sold out)