<b>Game won – Sympathies lost</b>
Following the splendid performance at Stamford Bridge, Bayern showed no signs of fatigue, handily defeating Hoffenheim 6:0. Sadly they were not the only ones bringing the fire, forcing the match to end prematurely and overshadowing Bayern’s first-class sporting performance.<a href="#in-case-you-missed-it"></a>In case you missed it<a href="#the-lineups"></a>The lineupsPeople panicked on Wednesday. The one player who was not allowed to get injured, did get injured. Hansi Flick had <a href="https://miasanrot.de/2020-vorschau-hoffenheim-fcbayern/">multiple options</a> to choose from and ultimately made a decision as obvious as it was daring: The first centre forward Lewandowski was just to be replaced by the second, young Joshua Zirkzee. The starting lineup had no further surprises. Jérôme Boateng was rewarded with another starting spot following his good game in London with Hernández staying on the bench, additionally, Coutinho came into the team replacing the injured Coman. Contrary to the last Bundesliga match, Bayern played with a back four once more, although the formation was more akin to a 4-2-4 with Müller basically playing alongside centre forward Zirkzee. With two new names on the injured list, one also returned as for the first time in 2020, Javi Martínez was back in the squad again.Joshua Zirkzee stretching the consecutive seasons of FC Bayern handing Bundesliga starts to Dutchmen to 17 here. <a href="https://t.co/gNPVJDCRgG">https://t.co/gNPVJDCRgG</a>— Michiel Jongsma (@JongsmaJongsma) <a href="https://twitter.com/JongsmaJongsma/status/1233747417901752322?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 29, 2020</a>Alfred Schreuder’s answer to Bayern’s presumed 4-3-3 was his own 4-3-3. Ex-player Sebastian Rudy was right-back, Nordtveit and Hübner centre-backs with Zuber playing on the left-hand side. Florian Grillitsch played alone in defensive midfield accompanied by Samassékou and Baumgartner. Skov, Bebou and Bruun Larsen made up a flexible three-man-attack with Andrej Kramari&#263; benched.<a href="#the-first-half"></a>The first halfThe game started just like the cup game a few weeks prior: With an own-goal. This time, however, it was Bayern getting the opening goal, not Hoffenheim. They lost possession near their own box, the ball came to Müller who put in a cross over the unorganised defence to a flying Gnabry who in turn shot Baumann with such an impact the keeper had no time to avoid deflecting the ball in his own net (2’). Four minutes later Bayern increased their lead. Boateng played a laserpass to Thomas Müller, who laid it off to Zirkzee. The young Dutchman did not manage to finish the play, but Kimmich standing behind him scored with a precise low shot from 20 meters. To the delight of a certain Madrid benchwarmer, no doubt.A centre-back was also pivotal for the build-up of the third goal. Alaba switched up play across the entire field to Gnabry, who put a low cross inside where Kimmich let the ball pass (presumably involuntarily) to Zirkzee. The youngster stopped the ball with his back to goal, turned, waited deliberately half a second and then scored with a well-considered shot (15’).In the following minutes, Bayern created more chances all the while Hoffenheim barely got a foot out their own half, Bayern was absolutely deserving of this three-goal-lead. Schreuder did not wait for the second half to react and brought on central defender Lucas Ribeiro for striker Bruun Larsen. This stopped the long balls behind their defence but not them conceding. Davies played a one-two with Coutinho, who sent the Canadian on a run only he could make. Davies laid it off precisely to Zirkzee, whose lay-off to Müller was blocked, which in turn initiated first Zirkzee, then Coutinho shooting. Zirkzee’s shot was blocked, while Coutinho’s was deflected and fell into goal. This took a load of the Brazilian’s mind and the entire team was celebrating with him. The goal also showed just how focussed Hoffenheim was…

<b>Schalke suffocated by possession in a 0-1 Bayern away win</b>
In game one after the “absolute nadir” (quote by President Hainer), all eyes naturally were on how Bayern’s organized supporters would react. But the big explosion some had expected did not happen. Therefore, all sides were able to focus on football: The record cup winners reached the semi-finals thanks to a 0-1 away win.A cup night. FC Schalke against FC Bayern. What often used to be a fiercely contested match in the past has been a rather one-sided affair this season. With 3-0 and 5-0 wins in both league fixtures, Bayern clearly had the better of the men in royal blue this season.<a href="#in-case-you-missed-it"></a>In case you missed it<a href="#the-starting-lineups"></a>The starting lineupsCompared to the match against his former club Hoffenheim last weekend, Bayern coach Hansi Flick changed his team in two positions. Goretzka and Tolisso returned to the starting eleven for Boateng and last week’s goal scorer Zirkzee. The two made up Bayern’s midfield along with Thiago. Kimmich played at center-back for the first time in a long while, as Boateng was out with an illness and Hernández was injured. Interestingly, Pavard remained in the right-back position. Coutinho, Müller and Gnabry formed the attacking trident with Müller in the center, Coutinho on the left and Gnabry on the right.Bayern’s bench was made up mostly of players from the Bayern reserves besides the newly recoverd Martínez and winter arrival Odriozola. And so with Dajaku and Batista-Meier two players were on the bench who are due to help Bayern’s U19 win the game against Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Youth League this Wednesday.On Schalke’s part, coach David Wagner decided make extensive changes to his team. Kabak, Harit, Gregoritsch, and Raman had to make due with a place on the bench. The most prominent change was in goal. Here, Schubert replaced his team’s former regular number one Alexander Nübel, whose recent string of errors has lead to several avoidable goals in recent matches. As is well known, the youth international will move to Bayern in the summer and it seems entirely possible that he will not play another game for Schalke before then.<a href="#the-first-half"></a>The first halfThe first chance of the game belonged to the home team, but former Bayern player Alessandro Schöpf’s curled shot from distance went just past the right post.Schalke played a very low 5-4-1 block and managed to draw Bayern very high upfield. By doubling up in defending the wide positions, they managed to pull the sting out of especially Davies’s customary high tempo sprints down the flanks. At the same time, they remained dangerous on counterattacks, frequently managing to play over Bayern’s high press. The biggest chance for Schalke came when Weston McKennie managed to put a high cross to Burgstaller in the penalty area, but Burgstaller’s artistic attempt only hit the crossbar.From a similar situation a little later, Schalke even scored a goal which was rightly called back for offside. Matondo charged down on Bayern’s unorganized back line at pace and managed to put the ball on to Burgstaller, who knocked it in. But the striker was half a meter offside.Bayern’s only chances up to this point came from rebounds from blocked shots. Two of these chances fell to Pavard and Müller, whose strikes from distance were saved by Schubert, however. It seemed fitting that Bayern’s best chance would come from a header by Schalke’s Todibo on his own goal, which Schubert could keep out with a brilliant save.  The elementnof chance was Bayern’s best playmaker on the night. It played a vital role, for example, in bringing about their opening goal: Schalke’s defense cleared a corner from Coutinho right into the feet of Kimmich, who struck the ball towards goal with a drop-kick from sixteen metres. His shot went through and past several of Schalke’s players into the back of the net (40′). With a 1-0 lead in the bag, a sobering first half…

<b>Exhausted Bayern win on anniversary</b>
20 decent minutes in the 2nd half are enough for lackluster Bayern to defeat Augsburg 2:0 on Bayern’s 120th anniversary.
<a href="#in-case-you-missed-it"></a>In case you missed it<a href="#the-lineups"></a>The lineupsBayern got fresh shirts and their defence back for their anniversary. Jérôme Boateng and Joshua Zirkzee came into the team, Tolisso and Goretzka moved out of it, Kimmich returned to partner with Thiago in midfield. Rather surprisingly, Coutinho remained in the starting eleven.Augsburg played in a 4-1-4-1 with the ball and defended in a 4-4-2. Being in impeccable form, Florian Niederlechner played up front, relegating Alfreð Finnbogason to the bench. Additionally, Martin Schmidt swapped his goalkeepers, with Andreas Luthe replacing Tomá&scaron; Koubek.<a href="#the-first-half"></a>The first halfFollowing the staggering choreography for Bayern’s 120th anniversary, the game started sluggishly, Augsburg even got the first two (innocuous) shots on target. For 40 straight minutes, Bayern’s game and passes were imprecise and lacked any spark or intensity. Things only improved in the closing five minutes of the first half, but the game remained goalless with Steinhaus ending the half mere seconds after Bayern’s first dangerous attempt on goal.<a href="#the-second-half"></a>The second half Both teams made surprisingly no substitutions for half-time. Initially, the game remained as tough as before, but then Boateng put Bayern on top virtually on his own. After a pinpoint laserpass chipped over the entire Augsburg defence, Müller scored with a volley (53’).Bayern’s game was now better and more focussed, Andreas Luthe denied both Zirkzee and Coutinho from extremely promising positions on two occasions, in between of which Schmidt tried to shake up Bayern’s attacking phase with bringing on striker Vargas for Max. Flick also made his first change, bringing on Goretzka for Zirkzee and putting Gnabry up front, who immediately squandered his first opportunity as centre-forward, missing the target after being free on goal (71’).Bayern’s attacks did not stop coming and Augsburg themselves signalled they were not comfortable with just losing by a single goal and brought on Finnbogason for Löwen. This endeavor almost proved to be successful but Neuer brilliantly saved Niederlechner’s close-ranged attempt (80’). Now Flick reacted and brought on Javi Martínez and Lucas Hernández for Coutinho and Thiago, who had suffered a head injury. Hernández played left-back, Davies shifted a position further up-front, Martínez was to break up Augsburg’s attacks in midfield. Bayern’s defensive tactics were almost counter-productive but Finnbogason’s goal was correctly ruled offside (89’). Subsequently, Bayern decided the game in stoppage time as Gnabry and Goretzka played a double one-two at the end of which Goretzka scored from a tight angle.Thus Bayern utilized Leipzig’s slip-up in Wolfsburg and increased the distance to the “Cans” to five points, the closest pursuer now is Dortmund with four points behind. If COVID-19 does not shake up things too much, the next game should be played in an empty stadium against Union Berlin next Saturday.<a href="#things-that-caught-our-eye"></a>Things that caught our eye<a href="#1-lackluster-bayern"></a>1. Lackluster BayernAt the end of all those exhausting weeks with double fixtures, Bayern seemingly thought that at some point they would score anyway, otherwise it is hard to wrap your head around their first half performance. They were desperately missing the basics of a decent football performance. Neither the passing accuracy, nor the passing intensity was good enough. Whereas the players were up for it against Hoffenheim, ready to make runs to pull the opponent’s defence apart, now the players were satisfied with doing just the bare minimum. But the bare minimum is not enough at this level, oftentimes even leading to completely absurd actions such as crossing the ball…

<b>The novel coronavirus: Matches behind closed doors would be the right measure now</b>
FC Bayern may be threatened with playing their next Bundesliga games behind closed doors in the coming weeks because of the novel coronavirus. While in Italy the whole league has been put on hold until at least until April 3, Germany deploys milder measures for the time being.On Monday it was decided that the Champions League second leg of Dortmund away to Paris will take place in front of an empty stadium. In Italy, too, the latest games have already been played behind closed doors. DFL boss Seifert said on Monday: “We would love to play […] the next matchday in front of full stadiums. But unfortunately that is not realistic”. The reason: The novel coronavirus.My personal reaction to these measures was similar to that of many football fans on social media: It was all panic mongering, hysteria and total exaggeration! Why go to such lengths now for something that seems to be about as dangerous as the regular flu?Well, that is why I usually write articles about football and FC Bayern and not about medical topics. Because I obviously have no knowledge of such things. And so I started doing some research on the matter and came across facts and arguments that should finally show me how wrong my initial impulse and how selfish my way of thinking were.<a href="#the-big-difference-to-the-seasonal-flu"></a>The big difference to the seasonal fluOnly just over 1200 cases in Germany (as of Tuesday, March 10) do not really seem to be a lot, especially in comparison to other diseases, especially since so far only three German citizens have died from the disease. But this is not about me. It is not about the majority of the population who would probably survive an infection with the novel coronavirus without any problems, and even the current figures are not central.Above all, it is about protecting the part of the population that is listed by the “Robert Koch Institute” (RKI; the government’s central scientific institution in the field of biomedicine) as “persons with a higher risk for a severe COVID-19 course of the disease”. This pertains in particular to people between the age of 50 to 60 and older: “Older people in particular, due to their less adaptive immune system, can become more seriously ill after an infection (immune senescence).”An argument that I have also used a lot recently is that the situation is essentially the same as it is with other diseases such as the annual flu, but that no great effort is made there to control the disease. Lars Fischer finds a plausible answer to this in this article: “We all come into contact with the different flu viruses that occur every year. According to estimates, about 15 percent of the world’s population gets infected with one of the circulating influenza strains every year, thereby gaining partial immunity”. For example, the subtype H3N2, which first appeared in 1968, is now only fatal for a fraction of the population.However, when in 1973 it came across a tribe in the Amazon basin that had not previously been in contact with the virus, around a quarter of the population died, although its severity had already lessened to seasonal flu status for the rest of the world. Fischer’s conclusion: In the case of the coronavirus, “we would all be such an Amazonian tribe”. There is no basic immunity (yet), and so the virus is able to spread much faster.<a href="#the-spreading-must-be-slowed-down"></a>The Spreading must be slowed downAs the data of the “World Health Organization” (WHO) shows, it is possible for the cases to double each week unless major measures are taken. At first glance, this may lead the casual observer to the conclude that, well, at least we may be done with it sooner then. But a surge of new cases within a short time may in fact lead to a number of rather big problems.Warum das Verzögern so wichtig ist <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID2019?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID2019</a>…

<b>Thiago the fighter</b>
April 2020. Coronavirus has brought all sport to a grinding halt and the situation is unlikely to change anytime soon. The resumption of professional football is a distant prospect at best.While the time without regular games poses manifold challenges to players, supporters, and the media alike, it at least affords a little breathing space for some more profound and thorough analyses and observations that might get lost in the shuffle in normal times.The German football magazine <em>Kicker</em>, for example, recently wrote a portrait of Thiago, whose contract will expire in the summer of 2021, which naturally gives rise to some interesting speculations about his future.<a href="#according-to-kicker-thiago-has-changed-from-an-artist-to-a-worker"></a>According to <em>Kicker</em>, Thiago has changed from an artist to a workerIn their article on Thiago from 21 February, 2020, the <em>Kicker</em> describes the process of this transformation. They hold that the change in coach from Kova&#269; to Flick prompted Thiago to fundamentally reconsider his style of play. He realized that playing football was not all about “aesthetic no-look passes”, but also contained such “basic elements” as “robust challenges and tackles”, particularly in a competition like the Bundesliga.<a href="https://miasanrot.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/03/hertha-bsc-v-fc-bayern-muenchen-bundesliga-2-935x650.jpg">Media</a><strong>Thiago Alcántara celebrates his goal against Hertha BSC.</strong>
(Image: Stuart Franklin/Bongarts/Getty Images)In doing so, the Kicker once more reinforcerd the equally well-established as unfounded contention that Thiago has been faced with ever since his arrival in Munich many years ago. He is considered a technical player with a lot of shiny moves no doubt, but if you want to succeed in Germany, you need to be willing to work hard and go the extra mile. And that is what he supposedly does not do.<a href="#the-rate-of-challenges-won-is-no-evidence-for-the-prevailing-theory"></a>The rate of challenges won is no evidence for the prevailing theoryEvidence to substantiate the claim? Hardly any. The Kicker’s conclusion is apparently based on a slightly improved rate of challenges he has won recently. However, there are certain issues with this particular statistic.<a href="#weaknesses-of-the-challenges-won-statistic"></a>Weaknesses of the challenges won statisticMartin Rafelt, author at spielverlagerung.de as well as a coach and analyst at Hajduk Split, already explained the problems with this statistic based on the example of a match of Dortmund against Augsburg several years ago: The main problem with any challenges-related statistic is that it is unclear what exactly constitutes a won or lost challenge. It is also quite uncertain what value a higher rate of won challenges really adds to a team.<a href="#one-statistic-alone-does-not-say-a-lot"></a>One statistic alone does not say a lotIt should be noted that the rate of challenges won without the absolute numbers of challenges for perspective has to be treated with caution. With 9 challenges in a match, the difference between a celebrated 56% and a criticized 44% of challenges won is often only the difference of a single challenge (5/9 vs. 4/9 challenges won) in the primary data.Considering the problems in data collection and the ambiguity of interpretation mentioned by Rafelt, this in itself should already give you pause.<a href="#there-is-not-the-one-best-statistic-for-challenges"></a>There is not the one best statistic for challengesRafelt also rightly points out that there is no defined event of a “challenge” in the primary sports data Opta records. The figures regularly quoted in German sports media are computed from various Opta values.It is therefore unclear whether the Kicker’s challenge statistic refers exclusively to defensive actions or whether offensive actions such as dribbles are included as well.I have tried to reproduce the challenge statistics…

<b>Hansi Flick confirmed as permanent head coach: Laying a foundation</b>
FC Bayern this summer intends to take a decisive step into the future and possibly a new era. With the extension of head coach Hansi Flick’s contact, the foundation for this has been laid.In times of Corona, even clubs like FC Bayern have to weigh carefully how and where to spend their money. However, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has made it crystal clear that this would not necessarily affect the upcoming contract renewals. Bayern’s CEO spoke of “fair offers” to everyone.On Friday afternoon, Germany’s record champions were able to announce that the first of the open cases could be closed. Club and current head coach Hansi Flick have agreed to extend his contract until 2023, which means that for the time being there is security in what is perhaps the most important sporting position in a football club.Although it is the players who make the difference on the pitch with their decisions and their quality, the coaches are the ones providing a framework in which the players can develop in the best possible way. They are, as Tobias Escher so aptly put it in his book “Die Zeit der Strategen” (the age of the strategists), the central wheel around which everything revolves.<a href="#together-into-the-future"></a>“Together” into the futureIt is therefore not surprising that Hansi Flick demanded a “veto right” on transfers and thus a certain influence in squad decisions. The media has used this fact to conjure up a potential area of conflict with the soon-to-be board member for sport, Hasan Salihamid&#382;i&#263;. It should be normal in a professionally managed football club that a head coach, once he has been awarded a long-term contract and given full confidence by the board, should have a meaningful say in the composition of the squad.FC Bayern’s press release on Flick’s contract extension shows that this is the case. In there Salihamid&#382;i&#263; is quoted as follows: “Hansi and I know in which direction we want to develop the team.” And Flick also showed himself confident: “We have determined the direction for the coming years together.”“We”, “together” – it becomes clear that Flick’s input is key to future planning. The 55-year-old has earned trust at various levels in recent months. Firstly, he has unfailingly presented himself in public in a calm and composed manner. In his limbo-like situation, this could not be taken for granted. Secondly, the mood within the squad is better than it has been in a long time. Even those players who have played a secondary role in recent months are singing his praise. Flick knows how to deal with the players. And thirdly, the results on the pitch speak for themselves.<a href="#flick-is-the-face-of-the-turnaround"></a>Flick is the face of the turnaround“Results” in this context does not just refer to the 18 of 21 matches that the team has won under Flick and the goal ratio of 67 to 14 goals under his reign. No, above all it is the manner in which the team has achieved these results. In a nutshell, Bayern are back to playing an attractive attacking football again.Specifically, this means that they do not only press their opponents aggressively and high, but in a very well organised fashion too. Fast ball wins and recoveries as well as quick reorganization in transitional play are among the core elements of the football that Flick has established at Bayern. In addition, the team has established a well-structured possession game, which has shifted the center of play back to central midfield.Bayern have for the most part managed to lose their predictable horseshoe shape in attack and shift the focus on commanding players in the center. Organization and timing of movements in attack appear increasingly better coordinated under Flick as well. Space-opening runs from the outside to the inside or vice versa as well as overlapping runs in behind have become recurring elements in Bayern’s attacking game.<a href="#the-future-challenges"></a>The…

<b>Tactics blog #003 – the basics of pressing</b>
The concept of “pressing” has significantly gained in importance in the domain of football tactics over the last 20 years. Since Jürgen Klopp’s success at Dortmund at the latest, pressing and related concepts such as “gegenpressing” have become extremely relevant. In this post, we take a closer look at the various forms of pressing and its related concepts.In almost every tactical analysis here on our blog we dissect the quality of Bayern’s pressing or the opponent’s pressing. We use terms like “gegenpressing”, “attack pressing”, “midfield pressing”, “defense pressing”, “man orientation” or “space orientation”. But what do they mean exactly? High time to shed some light on these terms here in this piece.In the past, people used to talk about “forechecking” when they meant that the team without the ball pushed forward as a unit to disrupt their opponent’s build-up play. But nowadays, this term is often wrongly equated with the notion of pressing as it is used today.The German Wikipedia defines pressing as follows: “Pressing is the act of (momentary, prolonged, or permanent) closing down an opposing player or players in possession.” However, it will become clear later in this article that this definition is incomplete. For during defensive pressing there can be no talk of closing down at all, and yet it is described as a kind of “pressing”.It would be more accurate to say that, in addition to the classic closing down, pressing also refers to the formation and organization of a team against the ball, which is intended to make it more difficult for the opponent to score goals. While the common definition thus implies above all that the opponent is put under pressure by closing down the ball-carrying opponent as early as possible, there are also varieties of pressing that do not involve direct and aggressive forms of attacking the opposing player on the ball. Lucien Favre, for example, insists that his players hold their positions in the game against the ball and do not close down opponents unnecessarily.<a href="#the-level-of-pressing"></a>The level of pressing<a href="#attack-pressing"></a>Attack PressingWhat the quoted Wikipedia definition explains is best subsumed under “attack pressing”. In attack pressing, a team puts pressure on their opponent as early as possible. “Early” in this context refers to the progress of the opponent’s build-up play. Some teams decide to press as early as the goalkeeper, others start with the defensive back line. Regardless of such differences in detail, a team that deploys attack pressing takes up an average position deep in the opponent’s half. Bayern practised this form of pressing consistently under Pep Guardiola, and now again most recently under Hansi Flick. A particular advantage of this form of pressing is the enormous pressure that can be exerted on an opposing team. On the flip side, however, there is a constant risk of conceding counter-attacks when the opponent has managed to play through the first pressing line.<a href="https://miasanrot.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/04/FCBBVB1-960x650.jpg">Media</a><strong>Flick’s tactics include attack pressing over long stretches of the game, in which the team as a collective is positioned very high up the field.</strong><a href="#midfield-pressing"></a>Midfield PressingSince the high intensity demanded by a determined attack pressing can hardly be maintained for a full 90 minutes, teams deal differently with the intermittent phases in which they have to moderate the intensity of their play to take a breath and recover energy. Guardiola tends to use periods in possession to recover, while Diego Simeone does so by varying the average positioning of his team. His Atlético side skilfully alternates between phases of attack and midfield pressing. During midfield pressing, the opponent is allowed to build up their game more or less unopposed. Instead of aggressively closing down the opponent early,…

<b>FC Bayern’s signature signings episode 1: Seasons 2011 – 2015</b>
Sané, Werner, or Havertz? This summer’s transfer window might become a crucial one for FC Bayern. Massive transfer decisions have to be made, and the current crisis will certainly not make things easier. But how has Bayern fared on the transfer market in the past? High time we took a look back and determined for each of the seasons between 2011 and 2015 which the major, the most important, the most difference making – in short, the “signature signings” were.Of course the novel coronavirus has not stopped the football rumor mill from churning at full speed. Sometimes it even seems that the quieter the action on the pitch, the more intense the controversies outside of it – yes, I am referring to the Manuel Neuer contract extension travesty. In this article, however, we will take a look back and elect the single most outstanding signature signing for each of the seasons between 2011 and 2015.<a href="#the-criteria"></a>The criteriaIt is difficult to define exactly what constitutes a top transfer, as such things often tend to be, not least because of a certain inherent subjectivity of the matter. Everybody has their own personal preferences. Nevertheless, we will try to make our selection as objective as possible based on the following four criteria:<strong>Length of club career</strong>: How many games did the player play for Bayern and in how many different positions was he used? Douglas Costa, for example, was without a doubt a key player during his first season at Bayern, but he only collected 50 appearances.<strong>Titles</strong>: How many titles did the player win with Bayern and how substantial was his part in gaining them? Tom Starke, for example, won six Bundesliga championships with Bayern, but his overall influence was lower than Dante’s, who only won three championships during his time at the club.<strong>Transfer fee</strong>: How much money did Bayern have to part with to sign the player? While Corentin Tolisso, for example, was the club’s record transfer at the time, Serge Gnabry cost only €8m in the same season. A smaller transfer fee translates into a better grade.<strong>It factor</strong>: This is surely the most subjective criterion of all. With this, I try to take into consideration whether the player was already a star when he signed for Bayern or whether he was just another signing amongst many others in the eyes of the international media. The transfer of James, for example, was given much greater attention abroad than that of Niklas Süle in the same season.There are a few further constraints. Players who joined Bayern on loan initially and were signed on a permanent basis only later like Kingsley Coman, for example, are evaluated based on the time of their initial arrival at the club. Winter transfers are included as well. The evaluation in this article covers the period from seasons 2010/11 to 2014/15. Only signed players count. Loan returnees are not included, the same as youth players.<a href="#season-2010-11-luiz-gustavo"></a>Season 2010/11: Luiz Gustavo<em>€17m from TSG Hoffenheim, stayed with Bayern from 2011-2013, 100 games, 6 goals, 5 assists, 3 titles, highest market value: €18m</em><strong>Other signings</strong>: noneLuiz Gustavo is a relatively easy pick here as he was in fact the only signing FC Bayern made in the entire season. The Brazilian arrived at Bayern coming from Hoffenheim in the winter. Under van Gaal and Heynckes, he was an important defensive shield in front of the back line, who stood out for his special strength in one-on-one duels. His limitations on the ball were often compensated for by his teammates Schweinsteiger and Kroos. In the vice-treble season, he featured as a regular starter, but missed the Champions League final due to a second yellow card. In the summer of 2012, he was replaced with an improved update of himself in Javi Martínez. A year later he left the club, having made exactly 100 appearances…

<b>Bundesliga Matchday 26 (yes, incredibly yes) Preview: Union against Bayern</b>
Had everything gone to plan, this preview would have been the finale one of the current Bundesliga season. We would have previewed FC Bayern’s matchday 34 trip to VfL Wolfsburg. But instead, the record-breaking champions will travel to Berlin on Sunday – for matchday 26.Perhaps the final game to conclude the first matchday after the restart will be representative of the many problems that the clubs and the DFL are expecting for the restart. On the one side, there are the mighty record champions, who lead the league by four points at the top of the table. On the opposite side, there is Union Berlin, who seem to be free from any relegation worries with an eight point cushion to the relegation play off place.However, the game will be a meeting of two teams whose quality occupies opposite ends of the spectrum. The match could thus show early on how justified the concerns about a potentially distorted competition due to coronavirus are.A tactical preview of this game is impossible. During a regular Bundesliga season, teams can be observed, studied and, to a certain extent, it is also possible to predict how they will perform. All that can be predicted about Bayern and Union now is that at least they will try to do their best.<a href="#the-matchday-of-uncertainty"></a>The matchday of uncertaintyBayern’s football is characterised by high pressure and a lot of ball possession. Union are known for their highly organized pressing as well, especially at home. Early in the season, they proved in their match against Dortmund that they did not come to the Bundesliga just to make up the numbers. Instead, they hold their own with an intense pressing game where they like to push up aggressively and disrupt their opponents’ build-up play early.Beyond such broad strokes, however, predictions are more complicated. What is the level of fitness of both teams? Then there is the mental aspect, which is particularly complex. The lack of an audience will in all likelihood significantly influence the course of the game. The question will only be how much so and to whose advantage. On the one hand, Bayern will probably not suffer from playing with a training pitch atmosphere in one of the most unpleasant away games in the season calendar. Dortmund and Gladbach already failed at the “Alte Försterei” earlier this season. Both got to feel first hand how strong the oft quoted twelfth man can be in Berlin-Köpenick.On the other hand, the lack of home support could make it hard for Union to release the last few percentage points of their potential, something which they would urgently need against an already stronger opponent. Unfortunately, it is to be expected that high-quality teams with a lot of individual talent and strength in depth are now even more superior to those who, without their fans, will find it difficult to go beyond their limits.<a href="#will-the-top-clubs-stand-to-profit-most"></a>Will the top clubs stand to profit most?Of course, the sport itself as a practice will be more in focus than before, which means that the fundamental quality of the teams will be even more crucial as the influence of external factors will be less important or even eliminated. So perhaps the lack of pressure from playing in front of extatic crowds will lead to fewer individual mistakes by the players. They can also coach and organize themselves better on the pitch. They will not be affected by whistling, booing, chanting and other external factors as much as usual. We may even see a cleaner and better football.However, the current conditions cannot really be desirable for either team. Union’s coach Urs Fischer left his team during the week for private reasons. It is still unclear whether he will rejoin his team before Sunday. This could prove an additional complication for the newly promoted team.It is above all a contest of uncertainty. Even though there is every indication that FC Bayern…

<b>Tiresome comeback: Bayern wins “away” at Union Berlin 2:0</b>
Bundesliga is back with a rather lackluster Sunday afternoon game. Amidst empty stands Bayern won 2:0 “away” at Union Berlin. A game in between the new and old normal.<a href="#in-case-you-missed-it"></a>In case you missed itThe league actually did the impossible: As the very first professional west European football league they persuaded the federal and various state governments of Germany to allow football to return. The start of this third part of the season was away at Union Berlin, very much to the dismay of half of Miasanrot’s staff.<a href="#the-lineups"></a>The lineupsThe first lineup after the long break packed no surprises. Hansi Flick kept his trust in the same defence that successfully worked before consisting of Pavard, Boateng, Alaba and Davies, Hernández stayed on the bench. In front of midfield-duo Thiago and Kimmich Goretzka got the nod over Coman, moving Müller to right-wing. Flick explained fielding Goretzka with the Union player’s height and strength from set pieces.Without their coach Urs Fischer Union started in a 3-4-3 / 5-2-3 formation. Arjen Robben’s old “friend” Neven Suboti&#263; played in defence, while their most prolific goal-scorer Andersson was benched at first, making Bülter on left-wing their most effective forward. <a href="#the-first-half"></a>The first halfIn a patchy start, Bayern gave their opponents lots of spaces defending courageously or naively  depending on your outlook as it boiled down to lots of critical defensive one on ones duels, promptly leading to Union getting two good attempts on target. At times they were almost man-marking the Bayern players while repeatedly attacking the space behind Alphonso Davies. Still, against the course of play Bayern almost went ahead, but Müller was called offside by a hair’s breadth (17’). Either way, this scene did serve to wake up Bayern as they now took control of the game, playing more forward and diagonal football. When that phase just about dwindled out, Suboti&#263; lost track of Goretzka, fouling him at the edge of the box. Lewandowski’s resulting penalty finish was about as ruthless as ever (40’). Nothing of note happened furthermore and with a 1:0 lead for Bayern, the players went into the dressing room one by one with a reasonably safe distance in between each other.<a href="#the-second-half"></a>The second halfNeither coach made changes to their personnel and the game proceeded to lose itself in a way in various fiery duels in midfield. Around the 60th minute however, it seemed like Bayern pressed higher, tightening their grip around the game and subsequently never proceeding to fully lose it. While they did not in a sense radiate any dangerous vibes, they did not really need to since being a goal ahead occupying Union’s half with typical possession style football was enough. In the 71st minute Andersson and Gentner came on for Ujah and Andrich, additionally, Flick brought on Coman for Goretzka, moving Müller in midfield. A few minutes later Coman could have made an immediate impact, but following a great run by Gnabry, he decided to attempt a cross when shooting was the better option. Fellow Frenchman Pavard did a better job in the 81st minute. He himself got a corner and put Kimmich’s delivery in the net leading to half of the team to conveniently forget the rules for goal celebrations.Peri&scaron;i&#263; came on for Gnabry and a bit later Cuisance for Müller, while Union substituted Ryerson and Felix Kroos for Bülter and Prömel (85’). The game was decided and in its last sequence of note Manuel Neuer denied the younger Kroos with a good save. Bayern won its comeback-game 2:0 and will now play Eintracht Frankfurt “at home” in a week.<a href="#things-that-caught-our-eye"></a>Things that caught our eye<a href="#1-football-without-fans-is-strange-but-okay"></a>1. Football without fans is strange… but okay?Many a fan shuddered at the thought of ‘ghost games’. Football was…

<b>New contract for Neuer till 2023</b>
At last! After many rounds of long and sometimes tough negotiations, a good deal of which were conducted in public, Manuel Neuer has extended his contract with FC Bayern until 2023, ensuring that “koan Neuer” will remain Bayern’s first goalkeeper for the next three years.<a href="#wrangling-over-the-contract"></a>Wrangling over the contractThe farce surrounding Manuel Neuer’s contract extension has been a constant fixture in football media since the beginning of the year. In January, initial reports about the negotiations surfaced, and subsequently in March and April both Neuer’s supposed demands for duration and salary somehow transpired. In the midst of the coronavirus crisis, the figures mentioned seemed astronomical and presented the goalkeeper as the prototype of the unconscionable, avaricious footballer.The publication of the demands was a tipping point for Neuer and his agent Thomas Kroth. The German international decided to express his frustration in the Springer press. In other words, the very paper that had made the contract details public in the first place.In our blog in April, Jan quite rightly concluded that bickering over the contract in public would not produce a winner on either side.“FC Bayern find themselves spread out all over the tabloid media and cannot make another important contract decision in peace. If you lead contract negotiations through the media, everybody loses.”Jan, about the contract extension of Manuel Neuer<a href="#the-struggle-for-power"></a>The struggle for powerAccording to the media, Neuer above all insisted on four points: A final decision on the position of head coach, the amount of game time guaranteed or promised to his heir apparent Alexander Nübel, the matter of Toni Tapalovi&#263;, and last but not least the modalities of his contract. While FC Bayern had already made the appointment of Hansi Flick permanent at the beginning of April, thus tying the players’ preferred candidate to the club, the other points proved more difficult.For Neuer, at the advanced age of 34 the contract negotiations also were a kind of gauge of his value. They were a test of how much backing he enjoyed within the club and how important he was to them. Because all the while the understanding was that Neuer wanted to stay. Speculation about a move never seriously gained any traction. There was a sense that Neuer wanted to test the water with what would probably be his last big contract.The whole story almost inevitably reminds you of Michael Ballack, whose contract expired in the summer of 2006. Ballack was without doubt one of the two or three best players of Bayern at that time. Rummenigge withdrew an initial contract offer by the club with the “incredible” sum (quote Hoeneß) of €36m for four years at the 2005 annual general meeting, as the midfielder did not meet a deadline. Subsequently, although the talks between the parties continued, no agreement could be reached. In May 2006, Ballack announced his move to Chelsea FC. He stated to the “Kicker”:“I did not accept FC Bayern’s new offer, which must have personally offended many in the club. […] The fact that the club made more and more populist statements about my contract situation over the months, that in the end they even tried to stir up the fans against me, is a message that was not lost on me.Michael Ballack, about his failed contract negotiations in 2005/06The situation of Ballack and Neuer, however, differs in two crucial respects: Firstly, Bayern have much more potent squad now than in the early 2000s. The gap to the international elite seems to be much smaller. On the other hand, speculation about Neuer potentially joining another club has never been as rife as it was with Ballack from the very beginning. Real Madrid, Manchester United or Chelsea FC – Bayern’s midfield star was associated with another top European club almost on a weekly basis.<a href="#the-incumbent"></a>The incumbentWhich brings us to the…

<b>Bayern in goal scoring spirit before Dortmund</b>
In the first Bundesliga game behind closed doors in the Allianz Arena, FC Bayern faced Eintracht Frankfurt. After a brief spell of disarray in the early minutes of the second half, the record champions ultimately managed a comprehensive 5-2 win against Frankfurt.After the 5-1 defeat in the return fixture, Niko Kova&#269; had to pack his bags at his former club. Since then, Bayern have only lost two games in all competitions under his successor Hansi Flick. The game on Saturday was seen as a reference point before the top match against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.<a href="#in-case-you-missed-it"></a>In case you missed it<a href="#the-starting-lineups"></a>The starting lineupsCompared to the victory against Union Berlin in the first game after the coronavirus break, coach Flick had to do without Thiago and Gnabry for his starting lineup. For the Spaniard, who was not part of the squad, Peri&scaron;i&#263; joined the team. Goretzka thus played in the centre. Coman started for for Gnabry, with whom Flick did not want to take unnecessary risks with a view to Tuesday. Once again, record transfer Hernández was left with a place on the bench. Pavard, Boateng, Alaba and Davies made up the back four again.In addition to Hernández and Gnabry as well as Martínez, the substitutes for Bayern were mainly reserve players plus Madrid loaner Odriozola.On the other side, coach Adi Hütter changed things around a bit more and made four changes. Abraham, Sow, Dost and Kamada, all of whom were still playing in the 3-1 defeat to Gladbach, moved to the bench. Captain Abraham was not in the squad due to an injury. Da Costa, Ga&#263;inovi&#263;, Fernandes and Silva joined the first eleven instead. Despite the personnel changes, Hütter stuck to his customary 4-2-3-1 formation.<a href="#the-first-half"></a>The first halfFrankfurt started with a high press, which at first made it difficult for Bayern to build up the game from the back. In attack, Coman played on the right wing, Peri&scaron;i&#263; on the left. In midfield, Goretzka was positioned a bit deeper than Müller, but interpreted his role much more offensively than Thiago usually does.As the game progressed, Bayern found more and more gaps, especially when Coman or Davies could take on Frankfurt’s defense at speed. After a corner, Lewandowski shot the ball against the crossbar, producing the first big chance of the match (11′). Shortly afterwards, Peri&scaron;i&#263; slid past a beautiful half-field pass from Kimmich. The Croatian would have been free in front of Trapp. Bayern were now in command of the game. Pavard headed a cross from Kimmich straight at goalkeeper Trapp from five meters out (14th).As a result of the pressure, Bayern went ahead 1-0 shortly after. Goretzka made a well-timed late run into the penalty area to connect with a cross from Müller, leaving Trapp with no chance. It was already his fourth goal in the Rückrunde. The gold was a just reward for a very strong five minutes.In the phase after the goal, the intensity of the game diminished for a while. Bayern’s efforts moving forward were not as compelling as before. Attacks were no longer played out consistently, best encapsulated by two unnecessary long-range shots from Kimmich. However, due to their good pressing, Bayern managed to keep disrupting the structure in Frankfurt’s build-up play again and again. The side from Hesse could not find their rhythm.<a href="https://miasanrot.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/fbl-ger-bundesliga-bayern-munich-frankfurt-2-992x650-1.jpg">Media</a><strong>Ghostly atmosphere in Munich. The arena has not been as empty as this since 1860 times.
</strong>(Image: Andreas Gebert/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)After 35 minutes there was a longer break because of an injury. Hinteregger had knocked down Lewandowski with an unintentional punch in the face. The Austrian received the first yellow card of an otherwise fair game. Lewandowski was able to carry…

<b>Bundesliga Matchday 33 Preview: Bayern against Freiburg</b>
There are just two more matches to go in this Bundesliga season before FC Bayern will be officially handed the <em>Meisterschale</em>, having already sealed the title mathematically against Bremen in midweek. The first of these matches will be at home against SC Freiburg today. With a view to the packed football schedule after the season entailed by the unplanned coronavirus break, Hansi Flick in his pre-match press conference on Friday voiced concerns about the workload of the players who he thinks will need a proper rest after the end of the season to refuel their energy tanks again. It is fair to say that first signs of mental tiredness and physical wear have already crept in at Bayern now. With several players out before the Freiburg game, the title already in the bag, and Freiburg still fighting for a Europa League place, how will they cope? Our preview.<a href="#worn-out-champions"></a>Worn-out championsThere was not the usual exuberant party with <em>Weißbier</em> showers, loud music booming from the stadium PA, and prolonged processions in front of their fans after Bayern had finally secured their eight consecutive Bundesliga title against Bremen on Tuesday with a narrow 0-1 victory. The players celebrated in the changing room among themselves, and in this reduced form, the celebrations were somehow befitting their prior performance on the pitch. Bayern was unusually sloppy in their passing and pressing. They lost many balls in situations in which in the weeks before they would have comfortably and composedly found a way to outplay their opponents. They did not use their chances and were miles off their usual clinical shape in front of goal. But perhaps most telling of all was their somewhat unorganized rearguard action during the final 10 minutes of the game, which almost allowed Bremen to level the score at the last minute.<a href="#the-mental-and-physical-toll-tells"></a>The mental and physical toll tellsThe match against Bremen continued a trend that had already become apparent in the two prior matches against Gladbach and Frankfurt. In the last few weeks, Bayern have lost a bit of their usual dominance and almost casual command of a game. In the second half against Frankfurt in the DFB-Pokal, this was still more than understandable. They had played a stellar first half and were a goal up at half time, they had already cut Frankfurt to ribbons two weeks earlier, the league match against Gladbach was looming large, and it was an ‘out of order’ game, a cup contest which Flick later said was ill-timed given the density of league games on the season’s final stretch. Certainly, several of the players will have felt similarly and will have been more concerned with saving energy and not getting injured in the second half.Against Gladbach a few days later, Flick for the first time in a long time, partly by volition and partly by necessity, chose to rotate his squad quite a bit. With Müller and Lewandowski having to be replaced and Davies and Coman getting a rest, Hernandez, Cuisance, Perisic and Zirkzee made the starting lineup. Later in the game, even second team player Wriedt got a look in for the final 15 minutes of the game. Add to that a competitor in Gladbach for whom every point counts in their fight for the Champions League, and an unusually mixed and inconsistent performance against a no-nonsene and highly vertical Gladbach should not come as a great surprise. Bayern lacked their customary composure and control in midfield as well as the creative spark of Thomas Müller in attack and was caught out out time and again by Gladbach’s vertical forward play. Yet against Bremen with Müller and Lewandowski back in the starting lineup and Bremen featuring as somewhat of a whipping boy anyway when Bayern comes to town, one could have reasonably expected more than a narrow 0-1 away win on the back of a thoroughly disjointed performance against a side who has looked…

<b>Throw-in: Welcome back, Boa!</b>
From the sidelines to an important part of FC Bayern‘s defense: Jérôme Boateng is one of this season’s big winners.It feels like I already said Goodbye to Jérôme Boateng a thousand times. So often, he was on the verge of leaving. Even Uli Hoeness said that it would be best for Boateng to move to another club, and I remember the many times when Boateng looked lost, lonely and inefficient on the pitch.But now, towards the end of the season, Boateng has fought his way back to starting line-up – also due to the injuries of his teammates. Only a few months ago, it looked as if his time with FC Bayern was coming to a certain end. At this point, it’s still unclear whether Boateng will really leave the club at the end of the season, or fulfil his contract, which runs until 2021. One thing, however, is undeniable: coach Hansi Flick values and appreciates Boateng, is (partly) responsible for the central defender’s renaissance and has probably indirectly played his part to repair the relationship between player and club.<a href="#gone-baby-gone"></a><strong>Gone Baby Gone</strong>Around one year ago, Uli Hoeness advised Boateng to come up with an exit strategy and referred to him as “Fremdkörper”, which is perhaps best being translated as “out of place.” Hoeness made this statement live on TV while the team was celebrating its 2019 championship at the Marienplatz in Munich. There are certainly better and more diplomatic ways to show a current player the door, but even the most loyal Boateng fans had to admit that the relationship was broken beyond repair. It didn’t look like that story would have a happy ending.Boateng’s relationship with the fans also suffered. He didn’t join his teammates anymore when they went to the stands after a match to thank their supporters. Instead, he quickly disappeared in the dressing room. When his performances on the pitch were lacklustre, Boateng was often derided and mocked for his interest in fashion, for designing his own line of eyeglasses and for publishing his own lifestyle magazine BOA. He only cares about clothing and bling-bling, no wonder his performances on the pitch are rapidly going downhill. (Seriously though, if he enjoys things outside of football, just leave him be!)At the beginning of this season, Boateng was practically gone. According to media reports, there was an agreement between FC Bayern and Juventus Turin for a loan, which seemed like a done deal, especially when Boateng was a no-show for the official team photo. But the deal fell through at the last second, and he was stuck yet again.He publicly apologised to the fans for his behaviour and earned a lot of appreciation for his honesty. But even though the fans were ready to forgive him, things still didn’t go well on the pitch. With Niko Kova&#269; still at the helm, Boateng was quickly demoted to substitute player. Only when Niklas Süle and Lucas Hernandez both suffered from long-term injuries, Boateng moved back to the starting line-up – but even then, he often looked like a mere shadow of his former self.Boateng seemed insecure, made positional errors, and his lack of pace often landed him in situations where his last resort was a foul – like in the game against Eintracht Frankfurt in November. Boateng was sent off, and Bayern lost 1:5. It was Kova&#269;’s last game as head coach.<a href="https://miasanrot.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/eintracht-frankfurt-v-fc-bayern-muenchen-bundesliga-976x650.jpg">Media</a><strong>In November 2019 in the match against Eintracht Frankfurt Boateng received the red card after fouling Goncalo Paciencia.</strong>
(Image: Alex Grimm/Bongarts/Getty Images)<a href="#the-great-comeback"></a><strong>The great comeback</strong>With Hansi Flick taking over the first team, Boateng suddenly had a coach who knows, respects and believes in him; someone who likes to communicate with his players and always has a sympathetic ear for them. Step by step and with enormous willpower…

<b>MSR awards: most improved player of the season 2019/20</b>
There was no shortage of candidates to choose from for our “most improved player of the season” award. Jérôme Boateng, for example, to whom it was intimated publicly by the club hierarchy during last season’s official championship festivities that he should leave the club, is now well-nigh world class again. David Alaba has made impressive progress both on the pitch and as a human being. Had he yet been a frequent source of concern before the season, he has since become Bayern’s main man in the back four and an absolute leader. Thomas Müller and Leon Goretzka, too, could lay a fair claim to this award. But at the end of the day, the Canadian up-and-comer simply ran away with the prize.When news of Bayern’s interest in Lucas Hernandéz broke about a year ago, most people nodded their heads in approvement. He was seen not only as an excellent centre-back, but also as a fitting addition to the squad to fill the vacancy at left-back behind David Alaba that had not been properly filled since the departure of Juan Bernat. But things took a different turn. Now neither David Alaba nor Lucas Hernandéz play at left-back, but an altogether different player has grabbed public attention in spectacular fashion in that position.<a href="https://miasanrot.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/mostimprovedplayer2020-650x650.png">Media</a><strong>Alphonso Davies – Entwicklung der Saison 2019/20</strong>
(Render Image: Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images); Background Image: GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)<a href="#the-beginnings"></a>The beginningsWhen sporting director Hasan Salihamid&#382;i&#263; introduced Alphonso Davies as Bayern’s freshest addition to the squad during the summer tour of 2018 in the US, nobody quite new what to make of that. Although s considerable <a href="https://twitter.com/Goalimpact/status/985473397336494080">Goalimpact</a> score for a 16-year old and the general mood were largely <a href="https://miasanrot.de/scouting-report-alphonso-davies/">positive</a>, there was a latent suspicion that a so far non-descript sporting director was trying to bolster his public image by pulling off a spectacular stunt. And so a few months later a young Canadian football player went on his journey to Munich, in his bag a meanwhile well-known life story that has earned him the sympathies and the hearts of everyone in a way that few other young players ever do. Yet what matters on the field at Bayern are not endearing origin stories, but proper super hero skills.Davies took the first steps in his new surroundings in Bayern’s second team and in first team training, without, however, leaving much of a mark. Sure, he played a small role in the second team promotion run, but the sporting equivalent of the millions of Euros Bayern had dished out for him remained conspicuously hidden. And lo and behold, it did not take the tabloid media long to begin remarking that his efforts in training were rather sobering to observe.Looking back now, Davies is a prime example of how one can be tempted to judge a young player’s talent prematurely. If they do not perform as well as expected in the fourth division, this can be due to wider problems with the team and not their lack of individual quality. This is true for Alphonso Davies, as it is for the players competing for the teams of the UEFA Youth League. Perhaps it is not down to a lack of individual quality of the players when Bayern lose to Dinamo Zagreb, but to a scattershot composition of the squad. The judgement of youth teams may generally need to be done with a bit more circumspection than it sometimes appears to get.<a href="#first-steps-in-autumn"></a>First steps in autumnFrom a lukewarm pre-season preparation, Davies emerged as one of the winners. Already back then there were first glimpses of Niko Kova&#269;’s (and Hansi Flick’s?) idea to pull him back from winger to full-back. But when the various competitions commenced, his situation seemed…

<b>Mission Lis6on Complete!</b>
It was a long, hard, weird year. There were ups and downs. We fired a coach. We struggled at the beginning. And then we started to dominate. Not only that but it was players that so many had written off that really rejuvenated the team. Then COVID came in and looked to kill the season. A few months later and the Bundesliga resumed. Bayern not only came back, but they came back as strong as ever.This match was the culmination of this season. The opening 30 minutes were not the best. PSG had arguably more chances. They probably had the better chances. But Bayern held firm. They played their game. They held true to themselves and ultimately they finished off an increadible season in style by winning another historic treble!<a href="#kingsley-coman-comes-through"></a>Kingsley Coman Comes ThroughRightfully so, the focus in recent times has been on Sané and Gnabry. They are the players we all expect to be starting on the wings in the coming season. Kingsley Coman has been criticised. He has been injured so often that we all feel a little bad for him. But he has remained true. He has consistently committed himself to the club. And when it came down to it, he was the one who scored the winning goal in a Champions League Final!However, it wasn’t just the goal. Coman was arguably the most dangerous player on the pitch for Bayern. Almost every dangerous attack came through his wing. He gave Kehrer all he could handle and more. It was a wonderful performance in a huge moment. While there’s no doubt that Sane will be the first choice next season, Coman made himself a Bayern legend tonight.<a href="#kimmich-the-swiss-army-knife"></a>Kimmich the Swiss Army KnifeThe other player involved in the goal also deserves a shoutout. Kimmich was once again fantastic in this match. He once again showed up when it mattered. Many were concerned about his defensive abilities agains the attack of PSG, and not without reason. However, he once again showed that he not only desires to play in big games at the highest level, he thrives in them. He seemed to be everywhere. Every time that Mbappe made a break, Kimmich was there.Then when it really mattered, it was the right back, turned midfielder, turned right back that played in a perfect pass to Coman who made no mistake. It was a perfect cross in the perfect position, using Lewandowski as a decoy for the oncoming Frenchman. The young German is almost a surety to one day captain both club and country and has already nearly cemented himself as a club legend.<a href="#the-old-guard"></a>The Old GuardIt would be sacrilege to not mention the veterans. So many of the older generation has been doubted and scorned in recent years. They have been told they weren’t good enough. That they were past their prime. Tonight, they showed everyone that all of those accusations and doubts were wrong. Neuer was fantastic tonight. Müller looked like the player we all knew he was 4 years ago. Alaba became the corner stone of our defense. Boateng was the rock next to Alaba. And Lewandowski. Lewandowski had a career year at the age of 31.This is what Hansi Flick really did so well. He merged the old and the young. He brought this team together. He earned the respect of the players. He created an atmosphere where the players wanted to play for each other. Where they were excited to show up and play for and with each other. He reinstituted the style of play that suits the players that Bayern have. They responded accordingly, working hard on the press. Retaining possession. And most importantly attacking incisively!<a href="#mission-complete"></a>Mission CompleteAs I’ve already mentioned. It was a long season with so many ups and downs. If you told anyone that Bayern would win the Treble back in October, they would have thought you were insane. However, this team was resilient and a change in manager was all that was needed to bring them together. This is a historic win in unprecedented times. While some…

<b>Champions League Group Stage Draw Review</b>
Last night the balls for the Champions League group stage were drawn in Geneva as well as a number of UEFA awards conferred. In Group A, FC Bayern will play against Atlético Madrid, RB Salzburg and Lokomotive Moscow – and won a number of awards at individual level.Due to the pandemic, the balls for the Champions League group phase were drawn this year in Geneva behind closed doors. There were also some awards conferred for achievements in the past season. FC Bayern Munich was the first team to be drawn from the bowl, thus forming the head of Group A. Over the course of the evening, they were joined by Atlético Madrid, RB Salzburg and Lokomotive Moscow.<a href="#the-opponents-in-group-a"></a>The opponents in group A<a href="#atletico-madrid"></a>Atlético MadridYou can always count on Diego Simeone’s team to perform on the international stage. For years, Atlético Madrid has been one of Europe’s top teams, even reaching the Champions League final twice in 2014 and 2016. The head to head record between the Bayern and Atlético of recent times is also fairly even: In Madrid, the Spanish won twice, in Munich Bayern came out on top twice. However, it were Diego Simeone’s Rojiblancos who beat Pep Guardiola’s Bayern in the 2016 semi-final. Other than that, there have only been two more matches contested between the two teams in European competitions. Both in the 1974 final: After a draw in the first game, Bayern won the replay clearly 4-0.But it is the present that is much more exciting. Atlético, and we will analyze this in our preview of the group games in more depth, have changed. The narrative that the team would only defend and rely on transition moments is at best only partially true. Simeone’s team has made great progress recently, particularly with the ball. Atlético has long since become more than just a pressing machine that makes life difficult for every opponent through an unpleasant way of playing. Simeone has been working hard to add a presentable possession game to his team, which could often be seen last season. With Luis Suárez they have gained an exciting new player for the center-forward position and Jo&#257;o Felíx has also already shown that he can become a difference maker in the future. The two group stage fixtures will definitely be two thrilling games that all fans can look forward to. And it will definitely be a challenge for FC Bayern, as Atlético is without doubt one of the best teams in the world.<a href="#rb-salzburg"></a>RB SalzburgTheir next lot gave Bayern the advantage of a short trip. About 115 kilometers lie between Salzburg and Munich. The game against the marketing tool of Red Bull will also be interesting on a sporting level. Salzburg have always stood for a modern, energetic and offensive soccer. It should be expected that Salzburg will want to put a lot of pressure on Bayern.After many years of failing in the qualifying phase, Salzburg managed to qualify for the Champions League for the second time this season. Fans can look forward to a young team that is full of young talents who see Salzburg as a springboard for the big leagues – or for their sister club RB Leipzig. More about this in our preview.<a href="#lokomotive-moskau"></a>Lokomotive MoskauAs if to offset the short trip to Salzburg, the visit to their third opponents will see Bayern having to make the trip to Moscow. From a purely sporting point of view, the fixture should not present them with a lot of surprises. The Russians will try to solve their task by means of unpleasant defensive and transition football.The problem for Bayern here lies perhaps in the context of the match. A long journey, a defensive bulwark that will require a lot of running to be broken down and the tight schedule this season could cause problems surrounding the two matches, if not regarding the game against Lokomotive itself. Nevertheless, it must be the ambition of Bayern to win both games.<a href="#assessment">…

<b>Bundesliga MD 03 Preview: Bayern vs. Hertha BSC</b>
FC Bayern Munich against Hertha BSC – a game behind closed doors. Granted, a trip to Munich is usually not worth the trouble for Hertha fans anyway. But this time the club from Germany’s capital wil not be chanceless. An analysis by <a href="https://herthabase.de/">Hertha-BASE</a>-Editor <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisdeFrance1">Chris Robert</a>.If as a Hertha fan you make the trip to Munich expecting to win points against the record champions, it is usually not worth your while. The last away victory of the “old lady” was so long ago (1977) that Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeneß were still on the field for FC Bayern.In order to have any kind of hope that this horrific series may finally come to an end, the men of Bruno Labbadia will have to show a completely different face than in their home game against Eintracht Frankfurt, and they would be well advised to take an example from TSG Hoffenheim, too.<a href="#the-young-old-lady-has-not-yet-matured"></a>The young „old lady“ has not yet maturedIt was soon over with the ironic “number one, number one” shouts in the first half against Eintracht Frankfurt. It did not take more than 36 minutes for Hertha to be two goals behind. Overall, it was a weak performance by the very young team, who fought their way back in the second half, but still lost the game 1-3 in the end. It was the seasoned performers most of all who had an off day: Vladimir Darida (the most consistent player of the last season at Hertha) and Peter Pekarik (still the hero of the Bremen game) were both replaced at half time after a disappointing performance. Also new captain Dedryck Boyata, usually a very reliable hand at center-back, caused the penalty for the 0-1 and did not radiate his usual composure.In this season’s three competitive games so far, Hertha fans experienced a rollercoaster of emotions. First there was the astonishing debacle in the DFB-Pokal against Eintracht Braunschweig, where they went out 4-5 in normal time, then the impressive victory in Bremen (4-1), only then to be brutally pulled back down to earth by the painful defeat in the home game against Frankfurt. This start of the season has probably provided a very accurate summation in a nutshell of how the season of Hertha will look. After all, Bruno Labbadia’s “young Hertha” is still a long way from being at a level that would justify a realistic expectation of qualifying for the European League. From chaos club to Europa League candidate in one fell swoop? Doubts are in order. Something like this usually does not happen miraculously within six months, even on the back of dozens of new Windhorst millions.And so Hertha began to clean out their squad in summer and said goodbye to several experienced players, most of whom had been with the club for a long time: Vedad Ibisevic (36), Salomon Kalou (35), Per Skjelbred (33), Thomas Kraft (31) and Alexander Esswein (30) left the club. These departures were intentionally not compensated with experienced newcomers, “so that we do not only think in short term cycles, but also build something up in the medium term. That is our goal and that’s why we decided against signing new experienced players,” as Labbadia explained. Hertha’s squad is the fifth youngest in the Bundesliga with an average age of 25. That is actually a good thing, but it means that fluctuations in performance will be inevitable during the season.Sunday will be no different: Hertha are not nearly as disciplined and well-organized as Hoffenheim. The young guns in Hertha’s offensive still lack the automatisms and the consistency to reliably perform at a high level over 90 minutes. Another major problem is the lack of leaders on and off the field. A pecking order within the team and real “leaders” still have to emerge. In addition, Hertha are still too prone to trip themselves up with individual mistakes.<a href="#back-three-or-not-many-options-for-bruno-labbadia"></a>Back three or not?…

<b>Champions League Group Stage MD 01 – Atlético vs. Bayern</b>
On Wednesday evening, FC Bayern wil kick off their new UEFA Champions League campaign – and they will do so against one of the best teams in the world: Atlético Madrid. We analyse the Spaniards, whose strengths could pose serious problems for Hansi Flick’s team.If you want to know what makes Diego Simeone so special, you should bring your patience. The coach has managed to establish Atlético Madrid among the European elite. He, not any of the players, is the star of the club because he manages to unite everyone behind a common goal. He has no time for players who put their self-interest above the interest of the team, put on airs or indulge in toxic relationships with their teammates.Simeone is a volcano on the sidelines. One whose heart rate even in normal circumstances is often beyond any healthy limits. One who with his sideline gamesmanship frequently likes to test the patience of the fourth official. But Simeone is not just pure emotion. He is also a thinker and a philosopher of football – a side of him that is rarely noticed in public.<a href="#atletico-madrid-simeones-work"></a>Atlético Madrid: Simeone’s workAnyone who is able to not just stay at but be quite successful with just one club for nine years must have special abilities. Even the greatest coaches of our time can tell you a thing or two about what it is like when their methods and approaches no longer work. Coaching a top team over time often turns into a war of attrition, something that Pep Guardiola, for instance, became only too painfully aware of towards the end of his time at Barcelona and which he vowed he would avoid letting happen ever again. The same happened to Jürgen Klopp in Dortmund.Simeone, however, seems to be the one exception to this rule who has so far somehow eluded this wear and tear. The reasons for this are probably so manifold and varied that it would take a book and not just an article to present them all. But a decisive element no doubt will be that he can always set new tactical stimuli that consistently keep challenging even long-time players like Koke.Added to this is a constant revitalization of the squad over the years, which is just as necessary to avoid wear and tear. If Klopp and Guardiola have been the principal philosophers of attacking football of the last decade, Simeone is probably the coach one would equate with defensive perfection more than anyone else. He has turned defense into an art. This should by no means be underestimated when talking about the “volcano”, his heart rate or his penchant for an overbearing display of emotions.<a href="#the-tough-work-on-a-possession-game"></a>The tough work on a possession gameOnly last year, Atlético Madrid was again in a state of flux. It is often said that Simeone has not been able to repeat the feat of winning the championship after 2014 because his team lacks the capacity to be creative in possession. Defending, closing the opponent down, hitting them in transition – hardly any other team can do this as perfectly as Atlético. But when they have to make the game themselves, they have a hard time.Atlético’s two goalless draws against SD Huesca and FC Villareal in the still very young season confirm this impression. But Simeone is by no means just sitting idly by and watching this development. For much of last season, he broke with his usual 4-4-2 formation which he had deployed with almost unvarying consistency for years, and tried his hand at other formations, such as a diamond in midfield in order to gain more presence in the final third in possession.In addition, Players like Saúl Ñíguez or João Félix have incredible technical skills that bear little resemblance to the narrative of an Atlético side who are all about destroying the opponent. There is more to this team than disciplined defensive behavior. Simeone has made considerable progress exploiting this potential, and he is looking to improve his team’s possession…

<b>Bundesliga MD 07 Preview: Dortmund vs. Bayern</b>
The <em>Klassiker</em> is on again: Borussia Dortmund against FC Bayern München. In our preview, we analyse what we believe are the five most important aspects that could decide the game.On Saturday evening, Borussia Dortmund will host FC Bayern for Saturday’s late kick-off game. With the exception of one victory in the DFL Supercup in 2018, Dortmund have only managed one win in the last seven matches against Bayern. They have a goal tally of 5 for and 23 against during this period.This sounds an awful lot like one team being enshrined firmly at the top of the league while the other is trying with all might to dislodge them from their pedestal – but is never quite able to make it, failing again and again eventually. The only exceptions have been when Bayern themselves have gone through weaker periods and thus helped their contenders from the <em>Ruhrgebiet</em> a little. But in truth there has not been a meeting of equals at the absolute peak of their powers for some time now.The closest the two sides came to something like that was in the last match: Lucien Favre’s team actually managed to offer credible resistance in Bayern’s narrow 1-0 win in Dortmund. Clever shifts of the play, a compact, deep defense with well-timed scrambles forward, and above all good playful solutions against Bayern’s attacking press held the game in a tight balance over long periods. In the end Kimmich decided the game with a skillful chip over Bürki.<a href="#the-klassiker-close-affair-or-one-sided-contest"></a>The <em>Klassiker</em>: Close affair or one-sided contest?In view of the season so far, a similarly tight affair could possibly be in the offing this time around. Dortmund currently have the best defense in the league, having conceded the fewest goals, while Bayern are used to making short work of opposing defensive lines. But Dortmund currently are in good shape and, in contrast to many other clashes in recent years, should welcome their opponents with a good deal of self-confidence.Composure, poise, good organization, and lots of offensive penetration have characterised Dortmund’s game in recent weeks. Most recently, they managed to keep a clean sheet four times in a row. However, they have not really been forced to prove their mettle yet. The 3-1 defeat against Lazio at the start of the Champions League caused some unrest, but Favre has reacted and adapted his system a bit. Now, instead of three at the back, Dortmund once again play with a back four.Whether this (minor) adjustment will be enough to redress the fundamental problems Dortmund have repeatedly shown over the last years remains to be seen. But things have been looking up lately. Against FC Bayern Dortmund’s performance will have to take another step up and they will need to play with more courage than in previous meetings to pass their first big test of the season.<a href="#five-decisive-aspects-that-will-determine-the-klassiker"></a>Five decisive aspects that will determine the <em>Klassiker</em><a href="#1-self-confidence-courage-and-mentality"></a>1. self-confidence, courage, and mentalityMentality, when used in a football context, often remains a rather diffuse and intangible construct. What does someone want to tell us when they speak of a ‘lack of mentality’? In the case of Dortmund, it is often suggested that the team cannot really put up a fight and shift gear if things do not go according to plan.Especially in the direct duels with FC Bayern, Dortmund’s approach to the game and their attitude have often been the target of criticism: Too wait-and-see, too fearful, too cautious. The question of mentality clearly is more than a simple switch that can be flipped at will.Sebastian Kehl, head of the first team players department at Dortmund, presented himself quite optimistic and appealed to the courage of the team. Because in last season’s reverse fixture it became clear once again: If Dortmund play a high, aggressive and courageous…