Augsburg 1-0 Bayern München: Full Analysis

A 1-0 loss to Augsburg in a heated derby is not the worst result for a team which has won the Bundesliga already but the signs on the pitch were not really very encouraging, considering Bayern's lack of creativity.

First half:

• Bayern started with three youngsters but the team had enough experience to provide a better performance than that. Augsburg pressed very aggressively instead of sitting back and absorbing the pressure - anyone who has half a brain and has been watching the team recently knows that's the tactic to use but thumbs up to Markus Weinzierl anyway for using it from the get go.
  
• If there was any one Bayern player enjoying himself out there in the first half, it was definitely Manuel Neuer. He made great saves throughout and came out multiple times to save Bayern's blushes. He even provided Halil Altintop with a big ol' Schalke smile.
  
• The match started at a great pace but fizzled out a bit as Augsburg settled down.
• Bayern committed quite a few cynical fouls early on including ones from Bastian Schweinsteiger, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Javier Martinez.
• Augsburg exploited Bayern's right at the beginning and slowly started exploiting the left too as the match grew on. However, they concentrated primarily on the right and got joy there as Mitchell Weiser lost the ball to Daniel Baier. Baier found the rather cool Sascha Mölders who slotted in viciously for 1-0.
• Bayern's first good attack really came after 41 minutes on the clock. They looked disinterested and for a team whose main trait lies in keeping the ball, lost the ball too many times. The youngsters weren't really protected by their seniors either.
• If Toni Kroos went further back, he would find himself outside the Allianz. That being said, it seemed he was tasked with protecting the defense and Schweinsteiger was given the license for roaming forward.
  

Second Half

• Pep Guardiola seemed to have asked the players to play because they came out fighting. Mario Götze replaced a largely ineffective Xherdan Shaqiri. Mario Mandzukic became more effective as well as a result. He headed wide a cross from Ylli Salahi and the entire attack (well, almost) decided to try and attack a ball Toni Kroos sent in a minute later.
• Despite being more aggressive and dominating proceedings, Bayern still could not get their act together. Chances were coming but clear ones were not. Augsburg was being overrun but still managing to catch Bayern out at the other end, such as when Alex Esswin rounded Daniel Van Buyten and set up a shot and when Raul Bobadilla hit the post during a frantic final few minutes.
• Hojbjerg seemed to improve as the game progressed. He became more and more involved and it was clear that the kid knows his way around a football pitch; his thunderous shot reminded me of Kroos' shots and he seemed ready to take on defenders.
• David Alaba and Thomas Muller's substitutions helped Bayern; an untimely slip from Müller though resulted in Bayern's best chance being wasted. He seemed more involved than he did last week at Old Trafford undoubtedly.
• Something was not right with Bastian Schweinsteiger. He was Bayern's best outfield player in the first half but throughout the match, he just seemed angry about everything. The one moment he did have the right to be angry was perhaps in the 53rd minute when the referee missed a clear handball from Augsburg and did not award the team a penalty.

That's it from me then. We don't seem to remember what a crisis in Bavaria looks like with the previous one hitting in February 2013 and the one before that hitting from January to March of 2012, but there seems to be in a mini one now. The team has gone three games without a win. And finally, Augsburg was good value for their win. They played a good first half and defended well in the second.