It wasn’t always pretty, but Bayern Munich clinched a 1-0 victory over Hertha Berlin – and three points – before flying to Qatar for the Club World Cup. The game was a bit uneven, but a win is a win is a win I guess. Here are some quick hitters on the game:
We thank the Olympiastadion pitches team for the excellent job they did in clearing the pitch to start the game on a snowy day. The terrain was certainly smooth, but that was understandable given the conditions. Although the snow accumulated during the first half, the field team did clear it out once more at half time. Manuel Neuer appears to save Bayern Munich’s bacon at least once at the start of every game. He did it again yesterday. Neuer didn’t do it early, however. The veteran goaltender made several key saves throughout the game and finished with seven saves in total. Leroy Sane did a great job breaking free in the fifth minute, but needs to finish better than he did there. It was a fantastic effort from Rune Jarstein to make the save, but Sane needs to do better with the opportunity. Sane was pretty good that day as he managed six out of seven dribbles and was a pretty constant threat throughout his time on the pitch. At the start of the game it looked like the left side of the Bayern Munich defense (David Alaba and Lucas Hernandez) had had a very difficult time with positioning and communication. Hernandez was very irregular and perhaps wouldn’t have done enough to convince Hansi Flick that he deserved even more playing time. Jarstein’s save on Lewandowski was impressive on what was a rare miss from the Polish Hitman. As the replay showed, Lewandowski just didn’t go far enough in the corner. Jarstein had a phenomenal first half. Thomas Muller’s passing early in the game was fantastic. It wasn’t Muller’s best game – it wasn’t even close – but his presence on the pitch means so much to the team. Muller, however, must be a little more selfish. Benjamin Pavard looked sure of himself again and confident for the future. Kingsley Coman’s goal was the product of his quick decision to tear up a shot – with a little help from a Niklas Stark deflection. Muller was credited with assisting on goal. Niklas Sule took a nasty head butt, which opened a small gash on the big man’s forehead. Hopefully he doesn’t need any stitches because you know Frankenstein’s jokes are ready to be unlocked by his teammates. Playing as a lone defensive midfielder in a 4-1-4-1, Joshua Kimmich was firmly in control throughout the game. The only downside to training against Hertha Berlin was that when Bayern Munich didn’t counter-attack quickly or push on the pitch during a break, Kimmich had little support in terms of an exit. The backline just didn’t have a lot of options. Muller finally started to go further to help. Oooof… the head collision between Matheus Cunha and Kingsley Coman was unpleasant. Sane’s photo of the season (and he’s had some really good ones) was that knee in Jordan Torunarigha’s “bread basket”. Seconds later, Sane got Coman perfectly in place, but the Frenchman took the opportunity by air. Overall, Bayern Munich’s back line was superb and played so much better than it had just a few weeks ago. It seems Hansi Flick and his boys have found that happy medium. Bayern Munich’s back line was really solid for most of the game, but it shook at the end of the game. Let’s just call it a temporary interruption and move on …
If you missed our post-match Match Awards, Observations or Podcast, take a look or listen:
Manchester City could prepare a massive € 114m offer to Borussia Dortmund for Erling Haaland:
Followed by virtually every A-lister in Europe, Norwegian international striker Erling Haaland (20) is increasingly becoming a major target for Manchester City. To that end, according to the Daily Star, the Premier League giants plan to make Borussia Dortmund an offer of £ 100million, which will likely be turned down by the German club, anticipating, if the former is let out. Salzburg hitman – most likely in the summer of 2022, – to make a royalty of at least 150 million euros on the trade.
It’s weird. Chelsea has a page on her website, where she lists references to herself … including transfer rumors. In Friday’s update, Chelsea actually posted a story about how he is the favorite to land Bayern Munich David Alaba:
Title: Blues Are Alaba’s Favorites
Chelsea have received a big boost in their announced pursuit of David Alaba this summer. According to Spanish media AS via Sport BILD, it is understood that Real Madrid’s talks with the Austrian are not as advanced as the Spanish media claim.
The report also states that Alaba would be open to a move to England if the offer is correct, with Chelsea seen as their most likely Premier League destination. The 28-year-old Bayern Munich’s contract expires this summer and he is reportedly set to leave after spending nearly a decade at the club.
If the Blues choose the Austrian, he will be the second established free agent they have signed in the space of a year after Thiago Silva earlier this season. Alaba has won nine Bundesliga titles, six German Cups and the Champions League twice.
Chelsea offers this disclaimer for this page on their website: “These stories are samples taken from external media sources. They do not represent the views or the position of Chelsea Football Club. ”
However, I still find this extremely strange.
It seems that going up the goal post is frowned upon in Serbia… who knew?
In case you missed it, check out the Weekend Warm-up or Der Ausblick’s BPW podcast where you can hear a pretty cool song from Munich band Pine Tree Garden. The boys pulled off a song called “Münchens Liebe, Mein Verein”, which is a banger.
Here is some information about the group if you want to discover them:
Pine garden
Michi Geitner (vocals, piano, guitar) Hatti Seidl (guitar, backing vocals, piano) Philipp Habisch (bass, backing vocals) Felix Pieringer (drums)
Looking for a way to find Pine Tree Garden? Check out the links below:
You extract the song at (around) 10:30 a.m. from the file below:
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