Same Performance Different Result
April 8, 2023 Thomas Tuchel made several changes to the starting eleven as he lined up with Yann Sommer in goal, Joāo Cancelo, Benjamin Pavard, Matthijis de Ligt and Alphonso Davies in defense, Joshua Kimmich and Jamal Musiala in midfield and an attack of Sadio Mané, Thomas Müller, Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sané.
The match would be nearly a carbon copy performance of the one from the weekend from Bayern. Again they would only manage one goal from open play. Again it was from a central defender, this time through a very nice de Ligt goal in the 51st minute.
The only difference this match was Freiburg’s luck was quite different than it was midweek. There was no blast from 35 yards out. There was no late handball in the box. Apart from that, there was almost no difference in how this match was played versus the one on Tuesday.
Three Things We Noticed
Cancelo Again
As if Tuchel was reading my post last week, I finally got what I had been looking for with Davies on the left and Cancelo on the right. The result…meh.
Partially, you can point to the opponent and the fact that Bayern were playing yet again without a striker. For a player whose best attribute is his passing, these two conditions were certainly detrimental to his performance.
However, it’s undeniable that he was once again disappointing. I do not recall a single moment today in which he was involved. He was just there. That’s not good enough.
He has too much talent to be invisible on the pitch and while Davies certainly has his moments of lapse defensively, he almost always at least makes an impact offensively.
Given that so many others have been in good form at the back, it’s really hard to see him getting many more opportunities, which is a shame given the impact we all know he can make when he’s on.
Attack Mess
Today is maybe the best example we have had of the problems Bayern have in attack. With Choupo-Moting out, Tuchel was forced to throw the proverbial kitchen sink at Freiburg in attack.
With Sané, Mané, Müller, Gnabry and Musiala all on the field, the thought was clearly to hope with all that talent that they would create enough opportunities to eventually break through.
That’s not how things would play out. The first half was especially dismal as there were only about two half chances in the entire opening 45 minutes.
The second half was slightly better as Sané in particular had several very good chances while both Gnabry and Mané had a couple decent shots themselves.
Still the problems were obvious. No one knew who was supposed to be where, what their teammates were doing or where they were/would be. One possession the box would have six players in the middle. The next they would all be standing around the outside.
Only when they were able to break did they really look threatening at all, but given their opposition those opportunities were few and far between.
Form
And so now we head into the biggest match of the year on the back of a coaching change, a big league win, a big Pokal loss and another mediocre performance.
Bayern will hope to have Choupo back for their trip to Manchester on Tuesday which should help things some. City are certainly very unlikely to defend the way that Freiburg has which is certainly to Bayern’s benefit.
However, there are still massive questions as to the form Bayern are in when facing a team as clearly talented as City are.
City will almost certainly be the favorite heading into this matchup for most people. Rightfully so. However, as they proved against PSG, you can’t count out the Bavarians. They have a knack for showing up when it matters and they will certainly be up for the match on Tuesday.
Bayern have enough talent to win. They will likely play with more than they’ve shown the last few matches. However when you rely on flipping a switch every few matches, eventually there’s the danger that switch will not work.
Tuchel will have his work cut out for him. City is a beatable team, but thing will need to go much better than they have the last two matches if Bayern are to advance any further in the Champions League.
Same performance … or not Marc? I was not able to watch the full Pokal match, granted, but I thought this 1-0 win is a better one. More clear-cut chances, better combination, better precision, less chances given. Amazing football? No but it’s a good game considering how awkward the opponent is and the kind of pressure on the team (imagining losing 2 consecutive games to the same team, surrendering both domestic trophies in the process, in the space of 4 days).
I actually thought Cancelo was playing well. Him lacking attacking contribution is due to the setup (defensive protection first) that his form I think.
Of course, the overall performance is far from the best, and the game tonight at Manchester looks daunting. You mentioned exactly the thing that Bayern will need: showing their best face when it matters. Some lucks might be needed to if Bayern are to have a good result to take back to Munich (not pure luck per-se but the kind of De-Light-goal-clearance-Choupo-Moting-goal-at-crucial-time luck that happened in the 2nd leg vs PSG).
We saw the match very differently then. The second half was margionally better but there was very little difference overall between the two performances. Statistically, Freiburg had the exact same number of shots, drew the same number of saves, had one more corner, had one less freekick, the same number of fouls and two more offsides. Bayern had six more shots and forced five more saves, had three less corners, the same number of freekicks, one less foul and one more offsides. Like I said, the second half was margionally better which accounts for the shot’s but otherwise this match was basically a carbon copy of the pokal match. The difference is that Freiburg didn’t score two goals from nothing. They could easily have lost the match on Saturday or won the match on Tuesday if things had gone slightly different. Neither performance was dreadful and neither was very good.
I’m glad you saw something in Cancelo. Maybe I just missed it. Personally I don’t remember him doing anything defensively that really caught my eye either. Not to say that he was necissarily bad, but if all you’re going to have him do is play definsively, then there’s very little chance he’s going to play over Pavard and I don’t think that he’s providing much that either Stanisic or Mazraoui couldn’t.
Luck is always a factor in these types of matches. Not having Choupo tonight is a blow. It will be interesting to see how they line up offensively. Since City is likely to attack more, the more open pitch might be to the benefit of a system that lacks a pure striker. Still, it’s going to take a couple of very good performances to advance.
Indeed, I don’t know what to expect for tonight. I try to keep it (my expectation) low because of the current form and personnels, as we said, also because City is otherwise in very good format. On the other hand I’m cautiously optimistic, not sure why. I hope tomorrow we can come back here discussing the match in good mood thanks to a good result from England.
I’m with you. I don’t think we’re heading into this with no chance by any means. I’m not entirely sure what to expect but I would be surprised if it wasn’t a close match. City of course is very talented but even if you consider them to have the better overall team, we all know that doesn’t always translate on pitch success. Should be a fun watch and I hope things go relatively well tonight.
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