The first day of the Liga Total! Cup is in the books, and FC Bayern has some issues to address. Bayern fought back valiantly to earn a 2-2 draw, but then went down on penalties, as both Ribery and Schweinsteiger saw their efforts blocked. Werder Bremen will face Dortmund in the final, Dortmund having beat Hamburger SV by a 1-0 score-line in the opener.
Bayern did a few things very well: Xherdan Shaqiri looked sharp, with several threatening runs and alert plays in addition to his first half goal. Robben looks fit and healthy, and he had a nice unselfish play on the first goal. Kroos and Mueller were both aggressive and had some good plays. Kroos maybe was a little too eager to shoot from distance on a few occasions, but he made up for it on that patient finish to earn the draw.
But some problems from last season remain: we don't defend set pieces very well, as the second Werder goal showed. Our defenders can be beaten, especially when they lean too far upfield and/or get caught ball-watching. And Neuer, despite the ability to make some great saves, sometimes gets forced into stupid errors, especially when it comes to attempting to clear the ball.
Some video. Here's the Dortmund goal in the first match - only goal of the game:
Here's Petersen scoring against us:
I'll add more videos if they become available. If you come across any links, feel free to post in the comment section. We're back in action tomorrow, taking on HSV in the third-place match. We'll be here in the morning with the Match Day Thread. Thanks for reading.
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UPDATE - this has all goals and full highlights from Bayern - Bremen: