Sorry for the delay on the recap, folks. I've been swamped with school the last couple of days. Anyway, here we go...
Wow! What an incredible game for Bayern Munich. If you are a Bayern fan and were unable to watch the match, check out the highlights below. (I apologize for providing a link instead of embedding the video. I have been successfully frustrated by this site in learning how to embed videos).
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xl0pnr_bayern-munchen-v-sc-freiburg_sport?start=16#from=embed
If you are a Freiburg fan...here's hoping you spent the afternoon doing something productive, as the only highlight for you was one shot by Cisse, sent way wide of the goal. The only stat that Freiburg won was for offsides.
It appears that Bayern Munich have caught their stride rather quickly. Granted, this match was against one of the lower teams in the Bundesliga, but as Dortmund so graciously demonstrated for us...it's quite possible to play poorly, or even lose to those teams.
So where do we even begin? I won't walk through all of the goals for you because you can do that yourself by clicking on the link up above and watching the highlights.
Anyway, the attack was strong and smooth yet again. Muller looked great, although he still can't find the back of the net; but his role as an orchestrator of much of the Bayern attacks is so vital. Thomas set up the opening goal, and also weaved his way into the box to draw yet another penalty.
Kroos and Schweinsteiger both had excellent games. Great vision and ball control (Bastian completed 92% of his 113 passes), and both picked up an assist. Gustavo gave us his usual, tireless performance. Time after time I am impressed with his strong challenges and ability to win the ball from the opposing team. Thus far, I have been most impressed by Gustavo and Badstuber as solid rocks in our defense. There was a lot of concern in the past over whether Badstuber had the skill and mental toughness to be a starting CB, but I think that with the pairing of Boateng and the direction of Neuer, he has been fantastic.
The rest of the back line looked solid. Rafinha got his opportunities to go nuts while celebrating goals. Boateng completely shut down Cisse, and Lahm was solid (when is he not?). Freiburg was under pressure during the rare event that they had the ball, and were forced to send wild passes forward, which were easily headed away by the back line and quickly turned into an attack for Bayern. As one would expect from such a game, Neuer had nearly nothing to do. I wish we could get audio of what he is saying during the match, to find out how much he is influencing and strengthening the defense.
Gomez and Ribery were in top form for this game. Ribery finally looked magical again, scoring twice, assisting, and opening opportunities every time he touched the ball. And for those who were doubting Gomez and his efficiency after game one, he now has a four goal lead for the scoring title, and he scored on four of his five chances against Freiburg. His performance merits the "man of the match" award from me.
In other news, good old Arjen Robben is out for even longer with the groin injury. (Thanks to Beilke for nabbing this update). He'll miss the Champions League match on Wednesday for sure, and possibly a lot more. As much as I love the guy, I wish he would stay healthy for a full season for once. Looking on the bright side though; if he is going to be injured, I prefer it to be now, while the season is still young and the team is rolling. Heal up quickly Arjen!
Last little tidbit from the comments section. Could Schweinsteiger himself be a participant on this blog?
As awesome as that would be, I am extremely skeptical that any of the players or coaches would read this blog. However, there was some mention that it had possibly happened in the past on here. Also, one of the players for my favorite basketball team regularly reads and interacts with the fans on that blog. So in this age of technology, it can't really be ruled out. (If anyone has further comments/information on this, please share. Or if someone wants to take up the role of "#1 Blog Spy", to track all interaction on this site from Germany, contact either myself or Phil).
Well folks, that's it. I just want to express my deepest gratitude both to Phil for giving me this opportunity, and to all of you, for receiving me and my writing so warmly. It has been incredibly fun, and I hope to get the opportunity again sometime. Thanks for reading!
Viva viva FC Bayern!
-Peter