:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63057728/1065912874.jpg.0.jpg)
INITIAL REACTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS:
- First of all, let’s hope that Coman is ok. It did not look good as it looked like he twisted his ankle again.
- Coman was superb tonight. With his 2 goals and 1 assist, he was Bayern’s stand-out player today as he was Die Roten’s main source of creativity. Let’s hope that he can stay relatively healthy during his career, if so, he can become a world-class player.
- Bayern did get the three points and thereby limited the gap between them and Dortmund. But this was far from an impressive performance. Bayern’s defence was again very shaky as they had many mislead passes and unforced errors. Sule and Kimmich, who has been one of the bright-spots this season, did not have a good performance.
- It was not a night to inspire confidence before the most important game of the season against Liverpool. After that performance, it is acceptable to wonder whether the heads of the Bayern’ players are already at Anfield.
FINAL WHISTE! - A game that does very little for the confidence of Niko Kovac’s team.
90+2’— Martinez gets a yellow card.
90+2’— Augsburg has fought hard, certainly a better performance tonight than against Werder Bremen.
90’— Coman looks in pain, did he injure his ankle again? I’m holding my breath.
87’— There is something deeply wrong in Bayern’s defence, quite remarkable how many mislead passes there has been or has many unforced errors there has been tonight.
84’— Sule, who I think has been one of the bright spots this season, has had a very dodgy game.
83’— Bayern are being pushed back by Augsburg.
82’— Two goals, 1 assist and 57 touches. Coman has been the stand-out player of this game.
81’— Javi Martinez comes on for his Spanish compatriot Thiago.
78’— Jan Moravek comes off for Ja-Cheol Koo, another offensive substitution.
75’— Marco Richter gets a yellow card.
74’— Augsburg has every right in the world to believe they can pull off a shock.
71’— Goretzka gets a yellow after an unnecessary foul. Bibiana Steinhaus has been excellent so far.
70’— Big chance for Coman! The Frenchmen has a header after a Bayern corner, Kobel does a very nice save to keep Augsburg in the game.
68’— Marco Richter comes on for Konstantinos Stafylidis. Probably to provide more depth in the final third.
66’— Bayern has had 71 per cent of the possession.
65’— Goretzka had all the time in the world to pick his spot, yet, Kobel does a nice save.
64’— Ribery comes on from Gnabry.
63’— Chance for Reece Oxford, should of hit the target with his header, sloppy again from Bayern to let him be so free.
62’— Augsburg’s captain, Philipp Max, has had a good game.
60’— Muller has a shot on goal, no problem for Kobel. Great run from Bayern’s 25!
60’— Lewandowksi has a shot that goes outside of the goalkeepers post, should of done better.
58’— Coman has been absolutely excellent.
57’— It’s been sloppy tonight from Bayern, sloppy passing and an overall lack in creativity.
55’— James, worst Bayern player on the pitch, is substituted for Muller.
55’— Ji has another dangerous chance, Neuer had to do an unconventional save.
53’— Muller is about to come on!
52’— TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!!! Bayern lead for the first time tonight! Alaba the goalscorer! Great play from Coman to find Alaba, the Frenchmen has been outstanding tonight!
51’— Thiago gets maybe a bit lucky not getting a yellow after a slid-tackle that did not touch the ball.
50’— Lewandowski has a chance after yet another dodgy goalkeeping from the young man Kobel.
49’— Augsburg’s first game against Bayern was the first sign of trouble under Kovac. Felix Götze, former Bayern player, was the man who equalised last game in Munich.
46’— So far it has not been a night to inspire confidence for Bayern or Niko Kovac.
45’ — The second half kicks off!
INITIAL REACTIONS AND HALFTIME OBSERVATIONS:
- Not a great performance from Bayern. The defence is continuously looking shaky yet again, which does not bode well for the trip to Anfield.
- James has been invisible for 45 minutes, Gnabry has been wasteful and Bayern has not yet been able to taken control of this game.
- Coman has been Bayern’s creativity. Only Bayern player that deserves a pat on the back after that performance.
- All the negativity aside, Bayern has the quality to get three points from this game and limit the gap between them and Dortmund.
- Fun fact: Goretzka’s own goal is the earliest own goal in the history of the Bundesliga.
45+3’— TOOOOOOOOOOOR!!! Coman has done it again!! 30 seconds left of the first half, Coman strikes it between the legs of Kobel who needs to do better.
45+2’— Deflected cross from Kimmich creates a semi-dangerous chance.
45’— Augsburg, unsurprisingly, are defending with 11 men.
43’— Fantastic defensive work from Coman, Schmidt was through on goal but the Frenchmen did perfectly to deny Augsburg going 2 goals up.
39’— Bayern has the quality to turn this game around, however Bayern’s shaky defence and overall wastefulness in-front of goal is worrying.
37’— You can hear from the fans that it is a derby, great support from both teams!
35’— Dangerous header from Goretzka after a good cross from James. Bayern are looking dangerous yet wasteful.
33’— Lewandowski hits the bar after a dangerous header from a corner. Bayern’s top scorer this season gets very unlucky.
31’— Bayern has not had a clean sheet so far in 2019.
30’— James has been invisible so far.
30’— An hour to go, this does not bode well for the Liverpool clash on Tuesday, although Bayern has every chance to get the three points today.
26’— Goretzka forces Kobel to a good save, Bayern’s third corner of the night is yet again completely harmless.
25’— I have not seen Bayern’s defence so continuously bad since the Klinsmann era.
23’— TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!! Dong-Won Ji, recently back from the Asian Cup, punishes Bayern with a fantastic goal. First goal from him since September, Augsburg are in the lead for the second time tonight.
22’— Bayern looks like they will slowly but surely take control over this game.
16’— TOOOOOOOOOOOR!! Bayern has responded well and Coman scores his first goal after returning from injury, fantastic cross from Kimmich. YES!
12’— Bayern look dangerous, although the defence (surprise, surprise) looks very shaky yet again tonight. This won’t work against Liverpool.
8’— Bayern’s Bavarian neighbours come from a 4-0 loss to Werder Bremen, this game has started ideal for them.
7’— Second Bayern corner of the night, second time it is harmless.
5’— Spirited response from Bayern after a cold shower.
3’— Big game for both teams, Bayern needs to limit the gap to Dortmund, and Augsburg does not want to fall down to the relegation battle.
3’— Chance from Bayern, well played to Coman who passes the ball to Gnabry who completely bottles it.
2’— Nightmare start from Bayern, reminds me off that Volland goal after 10 seconds in Hoffenheim.
1’— GOOOOOOOOAAAAL!! Augsburg scores after 15 seconds, unbelievable! Own goal from Goretzka..
1’— Kickoff in Bavaria! The Bayern lineup includes no surprises and Manuel Neuer is back after injury. Can Bayern close the gap to 2 points? MIA SAN MIA!
One hour before kickoff: Lineups are out!
Unsere 1⃣1⃣ gegen Augsburg! #FCAFCB #packmas #FCBayern #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/3tuKcqzuF8
— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) February 15, 2019
Ahead of a trip to Anfield, Bayern Munich travel to Augsburg to take on the team that kicked off our slump last October. With Dortmund looking vulnerable without Marco Reus, this is the perfect chance for the Bavarians to close the gap a bit more and put some pressure on the league leaders.
However, Niko Kovac faces a tough balancing act ahead of the game. Does he rest his key players (James Rodriguez, Thiago Alcantara, Serge Gnabry) or does he go for it and risk having them injured against Liverpool? This current team hasn’t had much gametime together, so it could be beneficial for the Champions League starters to get another run out before the first leg. Certain players like Thiago thrive on form and rhythm, and benching them might disrupt that. There are convincing arguments for both sides of the debate.
In the end, it’s a very difficult choice for the coach. Kovac said in his press conference that there would be no rotation in the game, so apart from Niklas Sule returning to the lineup there shouldn’t be any changes from the week before. Still, these are the decisions he is paid to make, and we have that Kovac makes the right one.
It’s Bayern time.
Match Info
Location: WWK Arena, Augsburg, Germany
Time: 8:30 pm local time, 2:30 pm EST
TV/streaming: Fubo.tv, Find Your Country
Tips for commenting:
- If you’re a new member, feel free to introduce yourself. Don’t feel pressured or anything, we’re
mostlyvery friendly. Also, we’re from all parts of the world so don’t feel shy if you’re from a country that doesn’t seem represented on the blog. - Refresh the page regularly to keep up with the discussion. One refresh every 55-60 seconds is ideal but if that’s too much then just try for one every five minutes and after every goal.
- The goal celebrations are for everyone to participate in. Even if you’re lagging behind the others, keep replying to the most recent call of the player’s name. Even if you missed the first call, just start from the second, and so on.
- While swearing is allowed within reason, please be polite to your fellow posters and avoid gratuitous obscenities.
Check out our beginners thread if you have any more questions. That’s about it. Auf geht’s!
Looking for an unending well of Bayern Munich content? Sign up for an SBNation account and join the conversation on Bavarian Football Works. Whether it's full match coverage and analysis, breaking news or something completely different, we have it all.