Sports Weekly All-media reporter Huang Sijun
After less than 20 minutes, Bayern surprisingly led by three goals. But such a game, which should have been clocked in early, turned into a vicious battle expected before the game, especially after Kimmich was sent off after 54 minutes. The result was a 4-2 victory, Bayern finally reclaimed their first Bundesliga win of the new year after three consecutive draws, and also re-surpassed the first Union Berlin to continue to lead the standings with one point, but the process was a narrow victory, even a typical "Bayern luck".
Comang and Müller scored three goals in the opening 19 minutes as Bayern beat Wolfsburg 4-2 away.
As Wolfsburg boss Nico Kovac, who has "Bayern DNA", said: "Bayern scored three goals in their first two shots, because Kingsley [Comang] was a cross, not a shot. I think we were very unlucky to lose today. "More telling is the expected goal value, Wolfsburg is as high as 2.8, what about Bayern? Only a pitiful 0.66, a new season low! Bayern had only nine shots on goal and four shots on target, while Wolfsburg more than doubled (19) and had one more shot on target. Nagelsmann, who has recently been under pressure from a three-game draw in the league and Neuer, said: "This win is very important. We scored three goals in our first three chances and that made the game easy. But after 3-0 we relaxed too much and got Wolfsburg back into the game. ”
Cancelo is really "premium goods"
Bayern were able to capture Wolfsburg, of course, not by luck. Although it is a small probability to score three goals in less than 20 minutes, at least until Kimmich is sent off, the game basically developed according to Nagelsmann's pre-match plan. Thomas Müller, who came as the starting centre forward because of Schupo-Morting's stomach upset, said: "The game process is what we were prepared for. You can see our greed for victory. ”
Comão received a cross from Joao Cancelo in the 14th minute and volleyed with his right foot.
Facing the wolf-like home side after the opening kick-off, Bayern adopted a similar approach to the Champions League group stage first round against Inter Milan and Barcelona - luring the snake out of the hole. Bayern tend to slow down at the back to lure as many Wolfsburg players as possible into high presses, and once the ball is successfully developed near the halfway line, they will immediately speed up with the deep ball, typified by the second goal. The goal went from Pavard's back-of-the-field break to Comang's goal in 41 seconds, and it was by no means a quick conversion goal. After winning the ball, Musiala wanted to move forward as soon as possible, but saw that the time was not ripe and chose to pass back. The ball then shifted from the right to the left and went to the feet of Comand for the first time through the halfway line, but Comand chose to pass back in the face of the two-man defense, and Alfonso Davies then simply passed directly back to Zomo, who walked out of the box.
At this time, Bayern began to lure the Wolfsburg players forward to press, Kimmich, Sane and Musiala suddenly played a quick triangle, Sane in the middle of the field to get a large open space to advance, he quickly brought to the center circle and crossed diagonally to the right, Bayern formed a 4-on-3 situation in the attack of the third zone. Cancelo was able to calmly dribble the ball while looking up, and finally sent a precise cross with his right foot, and the unguarded Comon did not wait for the ball to land and flew into the right side of the goal with his right foot, and in five minutes he scored twice for the first time this season.
Mueller's header from Kimmich's free-kick cross in the 19th minute made it 3-0.
Following assisting Shupo Morting in the 1/8 final of the DFB-Pokal 1/8 win away at Mainz 05 in midweek, Cancelo has quickly demonstrated his value with two consecutive crosses in two consecutive games since joining Bayern. And coincidentally, Shubo also scored with a volley with his foot at that time, not a header.
After Kimmich assisted Muller's header 3-0 with a free-kick cross, Cancelo had an even more spectacular cross, when he received Sane's straight pass on the right and made a right-footed cross feint that dunked Ottavio who tried to block it with a tackle, and then crossed the small penalty area with a left-footed cross, only to be disturbed by Lacroix and headed into the air. The reason why Cancelo often plays left-back against his foot is obviously because his left-footed technique is actually quite reliable, just like Ram at the beginning. Nagelsmann praised Cancelo after the game for another good game, "He gave us a lot of creativity and flexibility. He can play in a lot of formations and cross with both feet. He's a very good player for us and that's why he's started the last two games. ”
Cancelo dunked Ottavio and crossed with his left foot, but Goretzka missed the ball.
Less than a week after joining the company, just two games later, Cancelo has already delighted Bayern fans, describing him as a "high-class commodity" and jokingly calling him "(passing) technical poverty alleviation", while the sporting director Salihamidzic who oversaw the battle in the stands is of course also slapping his palms. In an exclusive interview with Bild before the match, Sully revealed details of Cancelo's transfer. The key to successfully "picking up the leak" in the moments before closing the window is that Bayern have coveted the Portuguese full-back for a long time. Sully revealed that they have been trying to bring in Cancelo for more than four years, "There has been no possibility of a transfer before, either there are already people in the position at that time, or we don't have the money. In the end, our persistence paid off. We've had many talks with his agent, Mendes, and he knows how much I admire the player. Last Sunday I got a clear signal from Cancelo to enter the market. Since both parties already knew the bottom line, the deal moved very quickly. ”
Sarri confirmed that Bayern did not have to pay a loan fee and that the fact that the deal was possible was not only due to "the network", but also "of course luck." As for whether he will buy out Joao Cancelo at the end of the season, Sarri is clearly reserved. He did not confirm whether the buyout was the 70 million euros reported in the media, "but we have made it clear to him [Cancelo] that it is unimaginable for us to shell out this money in the next few years." But Sully also emphasized: "The most important thing is that Joao is comfortable in Munich and can perform in the second half. If all parties are eager to find a common solution, you can do it in the end. He knows he's one of the players we've been wanting in recent years. ”
Kimmich was targeted, provoked, calculated
At the end of the first half, when the pressure on Bayern's defence was increasing, Cancelo also showed off his defensive skills. He first pressed Jacob Kaminski's header at the edge of the small penalty area, then Arnold stopped the ball and was poked away by Sane from the back of the side, Cancelo quickly fell to the ground to block Ottavio who tried to get up, snatched the ball away and immediately got up to pass Arnold, and finally dashingly went forward to cause Van der Fen to foul, and the whole set of moves was amazing.
Cancelo's Bundesliga debut was widely acclaimed.
More importantly, Joao Cancelo's presence gives Bayern more capital to lure snakes out of the hole. The passing experience accumulated under Guardiola over the past 3 and a half years has made the Portuguese star the best "adduction full-back" in the world, reading the game, holding the ball for a long time and playing the ball in the face of pressing is far better than the full-back or wing-back who can only stick to the wing in the traditional sense, just like Ram once was, not to mention he also has the physical conditions that the "team short" does not have, which makes him not afraid of hand-to-hand combat.
In the past two or three years, with the departure of Thiago, Alaba and Jérôme Boateng, Bayern's ability to break and play the ball at the back has become weaker and weaker, and it has become more and more dependent on Kimmich alone. Nowadays, more and more teams will target Bayern's weakness and even use some super-technical means to restrict and harass Kimmich. Wolfsburg actually took this approach, and Kovac deliberately arranged for the fast and dexterous Austrian teenager Patrick Wimmer to target Kimmich in the No. 10 position. Just two minutes into the game, Wimmer made the first wave of Wolfsburg's attack by stealing Kimmich, who received the ball in front. In the pressing, Wimmer was almost inseparable from Kimmich, and the manager's solution was to get Sane to retreat sharply and Cancelo to retract, and the two were as close to Kimmich as possible, which was how the second goal opportunity was created.
After trailing by three goals, Kovac quickly adjusted, replacing centre-back Lacroix with Polish winger Kaminski in the 30th minute, changing the formation to 4231, and Wimmer returned to his usual right wing, and the more defensive Svanberg targeted Kimmich. The move was immediate, and Kimmich was soon annoyed by being kicked from behind by Svanberg after picking up the ball in front, and turned around and pushed the Swede and received a yellow card, setting the stage for a second yellow card early in the second half. And before half-time, it was Kaminski's goal that brought Wolfsburg back together.
Kimmich received his first red card in the 54th minute.
Kimmich's second yellow card stemmed from a failed combination between Sane and Musiala in the box, Arnold deliberately slowed past Kimmich after a steal, Kimmich's left hand tangled with Arnold's right arm, and then caused a foul. Kimmich admitted that the first yellow card was "absolutely stupid", but the second was a bit wronged, "Maxi (Arnold) of course knows I already have a yellow card. He slowed down a bit and wanted me to crash. I don't think I pulled his jersey or his arm. The movements are very slight. Kimmich has been sent off for the first time in his career so far, and he has also received his 100th red card in Bayern's Bundesliga history, and will be automatically suspended for the next round of the league game at home to Bochum, but it will also be enough to conserve fitness for the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain on the heels.
Playing three central defenders should reuse Blind
Counting stoppage time, Bayern had to go 10-on-11 in a full 40 minutes, and the scene changed from actively showing weakness and giving up the ball in local time to being passive in the true sense. Even before Kimmich received the red card, Gnabry was ready to come off the bench. The boss did not temporarily call a halt to substitution, but simply used the opportunity of Gnabry's replacement of Comang to change the 531 team, with Gnabry playing left wing-back, Davis becoming left-centre-back, and Cancelo playing right-wing-back.
Musiala scored in the 73rd minute and scored 10 goals in the Bundesliga this season.
In the last game against Mainz, Cancelo played as a right-winger in the three-centre-back system, which was actually more like a right-winger or even a right-winger, and due to Davis' rotation, the left winger used Comand. In this game after reusing the 4231 and Pamecano was out due to adductor and toe injuries , Cancelo and Pavard were in charge of the right defensive area. Kaminski's goal came from a hole in the combination of Cancelo and Pavard. In the moment Ottavio went straight through, Pavard left his defensive area, and Cancelo only looked at Ottavio, completely ignoring Kaminski who was cut forward without the ball, and Matthijs de Ligt's filling was significantly slower. This lack of understanding in the back line has been repeated in this game, especially after playing one less.
It is inexplicable that when the coach adjusted further in the 60th minute to change the situation, he replaced Stanišić instead of the experienced Daly Blind. Stanišić played as a left-centre-back and Davis was freed to the left-winger. As soon as he came out, the Croatian teenager let the ball easily fly through his airspace, while missing Baku behind him, but the latter's header was too high and Zomo confiscated, otherwise the score gap would be only 1 goal, and it is really difficult to say whether Bayern can finally take all 3 points. Even more fortunately, Musiala single-handedly changed the score to 4-1 in the 73rd minute.
Although Stanišić is a defensive all-rounder and has the size to play as a centre-back (1.86 meters tall), he lacks experience as a central defender in high-level competition, and his ability to anticipate dangers in front of goal is poor (the goal was equalized by Modeste in the last minute against Dortmund in the first half, and it was also his obvious deviation in the prediction of the high ball landing point, allowing Nico Schlotebeck to complete the assist after saving the ball from the baseline), and his ability to hold and play the ball when facing pressure was too weak to be competent.
Nagelsmann replaced Musiala in the 78th minute and sent Blind to strengthen the defence.
It wasn't until the 78th minute that the boss replaced Blind and let him play as a left-centre-back, while Stanišić moved to the right wing-back to replace the replaced Joao Cancelo. Although Wolfsburg scored from Blind's defensive zone by Swan Berg shortly after this substitution, the problem with the goal was that the youngster Vanner, who came on with Blind as a substitute, did not retreat in time to make up for it, because Blind had to follow Kaminski, who was pulling to the wing, and De Ligt, who had filled him for him, had blocked Lucas Emmesa's first shot.
In the remaining 10 minutes, Blind completed the defensive task well with his rich experience, whether it was on the ground or in the air. The Dutch veteran has the calmness and confidence to deal with dangerous situations that Matthijs de Ligt, Pavard, Stanišić and even Happa do not have. If playing back four seems unsafe for Blind to play centre-back with only 1.80 meters, then in the three-centre-back system, Blind with the left-footed Blind (not Pavard) paired with the right-footed De Ligt and Hupa seems to be the ideal combination. But so far, the boss clearly doesn't trust Blind and has only made two substitute appearances, making his Bundesliga debut. And after such a "thrilling victory", will the Nashuai's opinion change?