Sports Weekly All-media reporter Huang Sijun
Following last September, Bayern lost again before the second and final international break of the season, losing 2-1 away to Xavi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen, completing a five-game winning streak and ceding the top spot in the round of 13 to Dortmund, who had won nine wins and drawn one in the last 10 rounds. The international break ended on Monday with Bayern set to host Borussia Dortmund. Ushering in this "battle of Tianwang Mountain" as a catch-up is extremely unfavorable for Bayern, the only group in the title contender who still has to deal with European competitions, but for the entire Bundesliga and non-Bayern fans, it is certainly not too much to watch the excitement.
Mueller and Mane "disappeared"
Before the international break last September, Bayern lost 1-0 to Augsburg, suffering a wave of four winless matches, and the outside world was hyped up by Nagelsmann's managerial crisis. But the international break returned on Monday when Bayern played 4-0 at home to Bayer Leverkusen, who was still managed by Sevaney. It was also after that disastrous defeat and the subsequent 2-0 defeat away to Porto in the group stage of the Champions League that Bayer Leverkusen decided to change coaches and brought in Xavi Alonso, who played for Bayern in the last three years of his playing days. Before taking over Bayer Leverkusen, "Brother Long" only had experience coaching Real Madrid Under-14 and Real Sociedad B, but sporting general manager Rolface said at the time: "Experience is not a problem, the key is whether your level is convincing." Nagelsmann was only 28 years old when he started coaching at Hoffenheim. ”
Xavi Alonso flexed his muscles in front of his old club.
Although the 41-year-old Alonso is certainly Nagelsmann's "big brother" in terms of age and prestige in professional football, he is the junior of the 35-year-old Bayern manager. As a result, the first head-to-head confrontation between the two turned out to be that "Brother Long" taught the "senior" a good lesson. From the start, Bayer Leverkusen launched a high-intensity pressing in heavy rain. Adélie, Wiltz and Moussa Diaby on the front line took turns harassing Bayern's three central defenders with the ball, two wingers Flimpen and Incapier strictly targeted Alfonso Davies and Cancelo, plus one of the central midfielders Demirbay will go up to press Kimmich, and the other central midfielder Exekiel Palacios is also ready for the second wave of grabs, Bayer Leverkusen takes care of Bayern's 3322 formation well.
Bayer Leverkusen's 343 without a centre was not specifically designed to deal with Bayern, Alonso almost always used this formation after the winter break, and maintained a large rotation in order to cope with the two-line battle, especially the No. 9 position, which was basically played by Wiltz, Azmoun and Hložek in turn. Compared to the other two, Wiltz not only has the strongest ball handling and passing ability, but also has the highest level of no-ball pressing. Together with two quick and nimble wingers Diaby (who reached a top speed of 36.52km/h this season) and Aderi, Bayer Leverkusen's first line of defence up front has probably the fastest lateral movement in the entire Bundesliga. Regardless of how Bayern's defenders move the ball left and right, Bayer Leverkusen will be able to get in place quickly, and as a result, Bayern can only open his feet frequently.
Mueller did nothing in the first half and made frequent mistakes.
Most importantly, with Zhengyin center Shubo Morting continuing to be absent due to a back injury, Mueller and Mane, who played as the starting double forwards, were completely left behind against the tall and stocky Kosunu and Tapsoba as they competed for the high ball. In the ground propulsion, Mueller and Mane not only lack effective support, but also have little contact with each other. Mueller made one passing error after another on a slippery field, with a game-low passing efficiency of -3.7, only 5 successful 15 passes and 12 concedes in 19 touches. Mane was even more useless, touching the ball only eight times in 45 minutes and losing possession four times. It is no exaggeration to say that Bayern is equivalent to playing one less, or even two.
So, in such a long pass and losing the ball, Bayern played a miserable first half, with only one shot on goal. Taking advantage of this only shot on goal, Bayern were lucky to lead. Kimmich's low shot from the centre of the penalty area was actually not difficult for Hladetsky, but the extra kick in front of Kosunu helped out. Even Nagelsmann admitted that Bayern did not deserve to lead in the first half. Of course, Bayer Leverkusen did not create a good chance to score, Bayern's defense was quite tight, Wiltz did nothing against Pamecano and Kimmich also had the upper hand in the scramble.
After replacing the worst player, the victory turned into a defeat
In this situation, it is an inevitable choice for the manager to send Musiala and Comang, who have been suspended for a game, especially Bambi, to connect midfield and striker. Sure enough, the boss sent in these two men plus Gnabry after the break, removing Mane, Mueller and the equally lackluster Cancelo. Such a bold move shows that Nagelsmann was extremely dissatisfied with the scene in the first half, while Bayer Leverkusen, who was behind by the score, did not move.
Adley, who received a fake yellow card, showed referee Stiller his sneakers that had been stepped on.
According to the manager's vision, Bayern should form a half-court suppression of Bayer Leverkusen in the second half, and no longer be led by the nose by the opponent. Outcome? Bayern repeated the previous 2-3 away defeat to Borussia Mönchengladbach, and instead of improving the scene, the substitutions and changes completely fell into the trap of the opponent. Bayern changed 4231, Pavard became a right-back, and immediately pressed heavily in attack, and the back line was suddenly left with only two people, Pamecano and Matthijs de Ligt. So Wiltz, Diaby and Adélie, who had no room to break through at all in the first half, were like fish, and the quick counterattack that "Long's Pharmaceutical Factory" was good at could finally be played. In the 53rd minute, Bayer Leverkusen immediately turned to a counter-attack after being cleared in the box, and soon formed a 4-on-4 situation in the attacking third zone, which eventually led to Pavard accidentally stepping on the right heel of Adélie on the penalty area line, and the first fake yellow card of the game turned VAR penalty.
After being equalized by Palacios on penalties, Nagelsmann immediately replaced Pavard, who sent the spot, probably fearing that he would be yellow carded again. After Stanišić's appearance, Bayern changed to a three-centre-back and four-back switching style of play, which stabilized the situation. As a result, shortly after Musiala shot from a low angle, Gnabry conceded the ball on the right side of the midfield and gave the opponent a counter-attacking opportunity, and Yupa unnecessarily fell to the ground to intercept Adley, creating a second fake yellow card to VAR penalty.
Palacios scored twice with VAR penalties.
Unlike the first time he was obviously violated, Adélie had the intention of actively seeking physical contact this time - before he could make contact with Yupa, he jumped up lightly, and then his right foot made contact with Yupa, who had already closed his foot, and fell to the ground. After seeing referee Stiller award Adélie another fake fall and yellow card, former German international Ovocmoyera, who served as the official commentator of the Bundesliga, believes that Adley is not a fake fall, the two did have contact and occurred in the box, but whether it was a penalty is debatable. Bayern had no objection to the penalty award, and Müller said: "We don't need to discuss the referee, we have other issues to deal with. ”
The Champions League is calm, the Bundesliga is impetuous
So far this season, Bayern have scored six penalties in the Bundesliga, the highest value in 43 years. In the Champions League, Bayern have not been awarded a penalty in eight games and kept seven clean sheets. The first penalty of the game, as well as the previous penalty against Augsburg (in which Matthijs de Ligt inadvertently stepped on Cardona while running), was a stroke of luck, but they were also the epitome of Bayern's two very different game mentalities at home and abroad.
In fact, this match is similar to the second leg against Paris Saint-Germain. Against Paris, Bayern, who were 1-0 on aggregate, came out with intensity and took over the game from the moment they came out, turning their advantage into a 2-0 victory over time. But against Bayer Leverkusen, the same 1 goal in hand, Bayern did not at all calmly and calmly in the Champions League, but showed anxiousness, as soon as the second half came out, it was chaotic, and took the initiative to invite the opponent to turn defeat into victory - it is clear that the opponent who is behind the score should be in a hurry. A month ago, the army was defeated, and the situation was much the same. At half-time 1-1, the coach replaced Sane and Musiala after the break and changed into a back three, trying to suppress the opponent strongly in the 10-on-11 situation, but exposed too much backcourt space, was constantly counterattacked by Borussia Mönchen, and eventually lost the game.
Nagelsmann's adjustment messed up again.
After 10 consecutive Bundesliga titles, Bayern have become accustomed to drawing at home, and even if they occasionally encounter headwinds, they can always turn defeat into victory with a little effort. But after losing the efficient Lewandowski this season, Bayern have not only often lost points in the Bundesliga, or have been slow to convert one-sided scenes into a gap of several goals, but the effect of on-the-spot adjustments has also been greatly reduced, and there have been many recent changes that have deteriorated. On the one hand, the importance of the league is obviously not as good as that of the Champions League, on the other hand, it is not accustomed to encountering so much trouble in the domestic arena, and the lack of psychological preparation has spawned Bayern's 8-game victory in the Champions League this season, beating Barcelona, Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain successively, but stumbling in the league and always difficult to move forward at full speed.
Sporting director Salihamidzic has lamented the team's bad attitude, "As long as you have the right mentality from the beginning of the game, this team will be excellent." But as long as they don't show the right mindset that they can do everything on their own, they're going to be terrible. Sarri believes Bayern "lacks everything" at Bayer Arena and "is crushed by a team that only played on Thursday." Today we are inferior to our opponents in every link. So unmotivated, so unmotivated, so devoid of the desire to fight, so unassertive, I really don't see it. ”
Despite Kimmich's opening goal, Bayern ended up with nothing.
Nagelsmann also said: "Except for the last 10 minutes, we were the worst team for 80 minutes. According to the boss, the team has clearly improved in the past few weeks in terms of "the combination of emotion and strength", only to be completely back in shape at Bayer Arena, "Overall, we played listless today. As a result, Bayern were overtaken by Borussia Dortmund and fell to second place in the table. If they fail to win at home in the next round, Bayern will lose the initiative in the league sprint. The boss said: "Given Dortmund's current form, if we can't win, or at worst, then it's hard to win the title. ”
Of course, we don't seem to have to worry about Bayern's re-emergence of the right attitude against their rivals. The problem is that Borussia Dortmund have been relieved of the burden of the Champions League and Bayern have at least two legs to play Manchester City next, and it is doubtful that the league rounds before and after the Champions League can be "corrected".
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