On Sunday evening the Allianz Arena witnessed a goal-fest between hosts Bayern München and visitors RB Leipzig.
Although it’s possibly the most exciting match-up in German football right now, this game in particular was more than just that. Julian Nagelsmann, German football’s latest big product, who made the switch from the visitors to Bayern, taking club captain Marcel Sabitzer and one of the best young central defenders in the world, Dayot Upamecano, with him. Jesse Marsch took over to fill the void at Leipzig after they lost these key figures, but failed to do so. His five month reign was cut short after last year’s runner-ups dropped to seventh in the Bundesliga, trailing the current runner-up Borussia Dortmund by twelve points.
The next candidate selected for the job at hand was Dominic Tedesco, who was classmates with Nagelsmann on his coaching courses. In addition to that personal clash, RB Leipzig have never beaten Bayern at the Allianz Arena, although they were the last team, two years ago, to keep a clean sheet against Bayern at the same ground.
Nagelsmann made no changes to the team that beat Hertha Berlin 4-1. Leipzig, shook by Tyler Adams’ injury on international duty, benched the American, Hugo Novoa and Benjamin Henrichs.
Wasting no time from kick-off, Bayern’s relentless pressure gave them control of the match. Pressing extremely intensely, Bayern used their attacking line-up, filled with five world class forwards, to play the game in Leipzig’s half. The three-man defensive line of Leipzig, when combined with hard-working central midfielders who can play very deep when Leipzig have the ball, created a skilled and populous enough group to play out from the back. However Thomas Müller’s assignation to handle Kevin Kampl, and Bayern’s crowding of certain areas got the better of Leipzig’s deeper players over and over again. This intense press resulted in a ball won in Leipzig’s half, where Serge Gnabry dribbled after picking up the loose ball and entered the box, only to see his weaker foot shot deflected into the hands of Péter Gulacsi.
Despite not being able to beat Bayern’s press, RB Leipzig didn’t give up on the ball and still pressed high and intensely. But Tedesco’s intentions couldn’t beat Nagelsmann’s plans, pacifying the fullbacks of RB Leipzig in their defensive half, and not allowing them to press by threatening them with the presence of Kingsley Coman and Gnabry. The brilliant Joshua Kimmich was the main agent in Bayern’s build-up as always, with the help of Leroy Sane, who was pushed narrow by Coman, helping pull Bayern out of tight areas. Müller being the player that he is, along with Corentin Tolisso, enabled Bayern to beat RB Leipzig’s high press and take the ball into the attacking third, where they are at their best.
Nevertheless personal mistakes almost hurt Bayern. Gnabry saw his pass intercepted in the tenth minute of the game, allowing Lukas Klostermann to switch the ball to Angeliño to cut back for Dani Olmo, only to see the Spaniard’s shot with his weaker foot brush the side netting.
Just two minutes later Bayern responded. Willi Orban’s pass to Konrad Laimer was intercepted by Tolisso, who left the ball to Robert Lewandowski – his shot didn’t go in, but the spills were gladly tapped in by Müller, scoring his seventh goal in the Bundesliga this season.
Only two minutes later Gnabry was unleashed by Tolisso, who produced a shot-cum-cross under serious pressure from Kampl and Josko Gvardiol, but there was no one there to tap it in. From the resulting goal kick, Leipzig immediately showed they weren’t pushovers. They passed their way into Bayern’s box – the brilliant Christopher Nkunku creating a decent shooting opportunity for André Silva, who hesitated and was overrun. The ball fell to Olmo around the penalty spot, who once again failed to produce a decent shot, aiming at Manuel Neuer.
The Spaniard forced Neuer, who is one win away from equalling Oliver Kahn’s record 310 Bundesliga wins in 99 fewer games, to make another save. Nordi Mukiele was able to intercept a pass in the centre of the pitch, picked up by Kampl and later Nkunku set up Olmo again, only to be saved by Neuer again, with the loose ball cleared by Niklas Süle.
Two minutes later, Sane made a brilliant 30-yard run with the ball, nutmegging Laimer in the process, and created a chance for Coman, who then shot wide with his weaker foot.
The first booking of the game came when Lucas Hernandez bumped into Silva, stopping Leipzig’s break.
Leipzig’s pressure finally came to fruition, when Tolisso’s pass was intercepted and Nkunku dribbled before feeding Laimer making a brilliant forward run. Laimer’s chip was tapped in by Silva at the far post, bringing Leipzig level with his ninth Bundesliga goal of the season.
Bayern immediately switched gears after the goal, countering with Coman’s cleared cross, and the returns picked up by Müller, whose low and deflected shot was saved by Gulacsi at the far post. Two minutes later Coman’s mishit cross hit the post thanks to Gulacsi’s fingertips. Again two minutes later, Olmo was intercepted by Coman, eventually seeing Gnabry cross early after a switch via Lewandowski, and found the head of Müller breaking the lines, finding the top right corner to push Bayern ahead again. It was disallowed due to Lewandowski bumping into Gvardiol though.
Benjamin Pavard sent a 50-yard pass to Coman on the wing, whose cross was put over by Lewandowski. But eventually, just before the half time, after another long ball to Coman from Tolisso, a cross found Lewandowski’s head and this time found the back of the net for the Pole’s 24th this season in the Bundesliga.
At the start of the second half Tedesco made his first move by bringing on Dominik Szoboszlai at the expense of Kampl, who had a quiet half thanks to Müller. In the 51st minute, Leipzig were able to pass the ball into Bayern’s half thanks to Müller no longer marking a Leipzig man since Kampl was substituted off. Olmo got to the end of another Angeliño cutback and again shot the ball into the hands of Neuer. The German goalkeeper immediately found Lewandowski with a kick into Leipzig’s defensive third, and the attack was recycled by Müller, who played a terrific ball meant for Lewandowski into the six yard box, but it wasn’t tapped in.
The unbelievable tempo kept on going in the second half, where just one minute later Szoboszlai’s attempt at putting Nkunku through against Neuer was intercepted brilliantly by Süle, who signed with Borussia Dortmund on a free transfer after the game.
He only could delay the equaliser for one minute. Kimmich, unusually for him, lost the ball in the centre of the pitch to Laimer, whose through ball left Nkunku alone with Neuer, and the brilliant Frenchman scored his tenth Bundesliga goal this season, alongside his seven assists.
With a slight drop in the tempo, Leipzig immediately left the ball to Bayern after their second equaliser. The punishment came just five minutes later as Gulacsi’s 30-yard pass was intercepted by Coman, who then found Gnabry just as the German entered the box. Gnabry’s cross was deflected by Gvardiol into his own goal.
After the goal Olmo took on Kampl’s deep playmaking duties, in order to allow Leipzig to construct more organised moves, but Bayern’s press was able to stifle that effort too.
With the high tempo at the early and middle stages of the game, it was near impossible to see even a flash of set offence from both Bayern and Leipzig, but the slight effect of fatigue on the players and game’s current state motivated Bayern to construct more well-thought-out moves and run down the clock while doing so. Carrying their deep building shape into the opposition half, Bayern looked dominant. Nagelsmann’s usage of Leroy Sane in narrow positions, almost as a number ten, instead of playing him out wide, permitted Nagelsmann to keep Gnabry, Coman and Sane all on the pitch at once.
Tedesco made changes in order to keep Bayern from controlling the tempo with the help of fresh legs, bringing on Emil Forsberg and Amadou Haidara for Olmo and Laimer. Just after the changes, in the 60th minute, Kimmich’s 40-yard pass to Gnabry was controlled brilliantly and he played Lewandowski in. The centre forward shot just wide of the post from the edge of the six yard box, under heavy pressure from Klostermann.
Nkunku’s duel with countryman Tolisso ended with a booking and Tolisso was subbed for brilliant youngster Jamal Musiala right away. In the 71st minute, the German youngster played a first-time ball to Sane, who dribbled and eventually switched it to Gnabry, whose cross found Lewandowski’s head again although the Polish striker failed to score.
Defeated by compatriot Coman in a personal match-up, Mukiele left the pitch and made way for Benjamin Henrichs. Just one minute later, Szoboszlai was denied from the edge of the box by Neuer, following Nkunku’s pass to the Hungarian. Following that move Nagelsmann took off Hernandez to introduce Dayot Upamecano against his old club. Right after his introduction, Henrichs was caught cold and could only stop Coman with a foul, earning a yellow card.
Tedesco made his fifth and final substitution in the 80th minute, taking off Silva for Yussuf Poulsen. Two minutes later, Henrichs intercepted a ball and his cutback to saw the Swede shoot, but it was blocked and rebound was shot again into the arms of Neuer.
Four minutes later Nagelsmann introduced another familiar face by taking Müller off and bringing on Marcel Sabitzer to face the club that he captained. Coman was also brought off and Tanguy Nianzou was introduced, pushing Pavard into Coman’s position. Two minutes later, Sane shot from the edge of the box but put the ball over Gulacsi’s goal.
Musiala gave Sane a chance to score in the 93rd minute after Leipzig dropped their guard and refused to press, with Sane shooting poorly inside the box the final action of the game.
Nagelsmann managed to beat his former classmate Tedesco, also managing to keep Bayern’s unbeaten record against his former club. With this victory, Neuer equalled Oliver Kahn’s 310 Bundesliga wins and the most exciting fixture in Germany delivered the promised level of footballing joy.
You can follow Görkem on Twitter.
If you enjoy these posts, please consider subscribing to our Patreon or making a one-off donation. For just €2.99, you can get access to premium videos and training sessions.
No responses yet