Initial reactions and observations from Bayern’s 6-0 victory over Mainz

Initial reactions and observations:

• Bayern shook off their Champions League exit early and played as a team. Bayern scored early and often showing no side effects of losing to Liverpool mid-week. Most build ups were a result of great team-work all the way up and down the field.
• All of Bayern’s goals were impressive. As noted by the match commentators in the US, there weren’t any ordinary goals scored. The most “ordinary” goal came from Davies, but even his put-back was smashed in with pace.
• James’ hat-trick makes his current situation with the club even more confusing. Do we want him to stay? Does James want to stay? Is he worth keeping? His fate with the club will soon be known. Today’s performance showed how dangerous he can be.
• Bayern kept the pedal to the floor to increase their lead on goal differential. Although they had the win secured early, Bayern played at full speed the whole game to increase their lead over Dortmund by +7 on goal differential.

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90’ — Final whistle!! Bayern wins it by 6-0 again

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83’ — Bayern continues to dominate the possession. Davies has been impressive on the ball. He has had another shot that was blocked and a couple good passes into the box. Mainz is hardly able to clear the ball out of their end.

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73’ — Substitution: Rafihna comes on for James. James is given a well-deserved standing ovation. Bayern are out of subs

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72’ — Yellow Card: Niklas Süle is cautioned for a tactical foul.

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70’ — GOAL! Davies finds himself in the right place at the right time after Lewandowski’s shot was saved. Davies scorched the rebound into the top of the net. Davies is the youngest goal-scorer in the Bundesliga for FC Bayern

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66’ — Substitution: Franck Ribery replaces Kinsley Coman

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59’ — Substitution: Alphonso Davies comes on for David Alaba.

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56’ — GOAL! Thomas Müller takes the ball away from a Mainz defender one on one at the top of the box. The ball trickled to James, who took one touch and then chipped it over the keeper to complete the hat-trick! Bayern lead 5-0

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51’ — GOAL! James gets the ball at the top corner of the box after Bayern’s 11th corner kick. He cuts in and takes the shot from the top and beats the keeper. Bayern leads 4-0

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48’ — Coman takes a knock to he head, but he walks off on his own power after being checked on by the trainers.. He is waived back on immediately.

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46’ — The ball rolls again! Mainz subs in Kande for Boetius. Bayern doesn’t make a sub.

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Halftime!— Bayern goes into the locker room up 3-0

Here are some initial observations from the first half:

• Bayern did a good job to shake off the Champions League hangover early on.
• Heavy pressure for most of the first half paid dividends for Bayern. Three first-half goals have the Bavarians rolling on the way back to the top of the table.
• This match is shaping up to be another great opportunity to pad the goal differential lead. With a close title race you never know what you will need later on in the season.

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39’ — GOAL! Coman streaks down the left side of the field on the counter, looking like he was searching out an opportunity to cross it into the box, but he decides instead to cut in and take a shot. Bayern leads 3-0

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34’ — GOAL! Goretzka plays a beautiful ball into James, who hit the ball between the legs of the defender and just past the outstretched hands of the keeper. Bayern lead 2-0

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32’ — James looked to cross into the box, but it was blocked out. James followed up the rebound and launched a curling shot that just missed the top corner of the goal. Bayern still looking for a second.

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24’ — Mainz counters and gets a shot off in the box but it goes wide.

On the ensuing goal-kick Neuer turns the ball over trying to pass to Süle, but luckily the ball pops right back to Neuer. No harm done.

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15’ — James launches a rocket from outside the box for Bayern’s seventh shot so far. Mainz’ keeper, F. Müller, made a decent diving save to keep it 1-0 for Bayern.

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12’ — Coman hits the wood work! Bayern still dominating the possession

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6’ — Bayern earns two corners but couldn’t do anything with them. Müller has a free header after a cross in, but Mainz’ keeper, F. Müller, is right in place to save.

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3’ — Gooooal! BAYERN! 1-0 Bayern had the ball in their offensive third for the first 3 minutes. After a few shots were blocked the ball falls back to Lewy in the box where he was able to slot it home

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Kickoff — The ball is rolling at the Allianz Arena!

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45 minutes to kickoff: Lineups are out! The official lineups are here. Jerome Boateng returns after sitting out Bayern’s midweek clash against Liverpool. Javi Martinez and Serge Gnabry are, as expected, both out, but that allows Leon Goretzka to play in the midfield, while Thomas Müller will probably play as a hybrid right wing.

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The Bundesliga is back! Bayern Munich host Mainz in a bid to keep up with Borussia Dortmund at the top of the table. As In the Hinrunde, Mainz pushed Bayern hard but eventually fell to a 2-1 loss. This is a team that can hurt the Bavarians if they get complacent, and Niko Kovac and his men will have to be on their toes.

As far as the team is concerned, the coach will be without the services of Arjen Robben, Corentin Tolisso, and potentially both Serge Gnabry and Javi Martinez. Because Dortmund won on Satuday, Kovac has to go with his strongest possible lineup, which consists of Robert Lewandowski at striker, with a trio of Kingsley Coman, James Rodriguez, and Thomas Muller behind him.

In midfield, Thiago Alcantara and Leon Goretzka are favorites to start, and the defense should be manned by (from left to right) David Alaba, Mats Hummels, Niklas Sule, and Joshua Kimmich. The aim will be to win big against Mainz to dispel the Liverpool disappointment from midweek.

It’s Bayern time.

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Match Info

Location: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany

Time: 6 pm local time, 1 pm EST

TV/streaming: Fubo.tv, Find Your Country

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