Bayern Munich 5-4 Heidenheim: Initial reactions and observations

In what turned out to be a crazy, nerve-racking yet wildly exciting game, Bayern Munich was able to outlast a pesky and game Heidenheim side. Here are some quick reactions:

• Niklas Sule has to be better than that. Sure, it was a somewhat sketchy call, but that put the squad in a major hole. The big man just needs a bit more seasoning to refine his game.
• The defensive discipline and decision-making was BRUTAL overall. The defenders may want to burn that game tape.
• Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller powered the squad to victory with help from Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry, and Leon Goretzka. The attacking was lethal once that grouping was together. The squad was more aggressive and fluid without James Rodriguez after halftime. The game was fast, physical and frenetic, which did not seem to suit the Colombian star today, who was hesitant a bit early on.
• Sven Ulreich had a roller coaster game, but his huge save at about the 81st minute mark might have been the game’s most key play.
• Whatever Niko Kovac said at halftime...it worked. At least for a while anyway.
• You can all exhale now and enjoy that for what it was...a whole lot of fun, even if you were nervous and looking for the nearest bottle of whiskey for the entirety.

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Final: Bayern Munich wins 5-4! What a game! That was completely insane. Stay tuned for a couple quick hits.

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90+1’: 4 minutes of extra time have been added.

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90’: This grouping of Lewandowski, Muller, Coman, Gnabry, Goretzka, and Thiago has been electric.

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89’: Gnabry hits the crossbar and just missed extending the Bayern lead.

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84: GOAL! Never a doubt. Robert Lewandowski converts the penalty kick and gives Bayern a 5-4 lead.

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83’: This is insane. Handball in the box against Heidenheim. Lewandowski will set up for the PK.

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81’: Bayern is scrambling big-time and Ulreich transforms into #SvenTheWall to prevent a total collapse!

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75’: Hummels hauls down a Heidenheim player inside the box and Glatzel take the PK for Heidenheim. He converts and Bayer is stunned! The game sits at 4-4 and I am developing a drinking problem.

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74’: GOAL! Heidenheim shows that aforementioned fight and adds another goal as Sven Ulreich is left sprawling on the ground after diving to his right. Glatzel gets his brace against Bayern.

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72’: Much of the life and energy has been sucked from Heidenheim, but they have put up a tough fight. Thomalla is on for Theuerkauf.

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69’: The story of the season for Kingsley Coman. He went down, but appears to be okay. (Every Bayern fan holds his or her breath)

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65’: GOAL! Mats Hummels delivered a beautiful flick off his head from a corner that went right into the area of Serge Gnabry who deftly deposited the ball home for a 4-2 Bayern lead.

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63’: Teaming up Lewandowski and Muller changed the course of the game. The insertion of Kingsley Coman did not hurt either. Seeing Muller and Lewandowski patrolling the middle of the field shows how effective the duo is on the pitch.

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61’: Bayern would do well to learn from its first half shenanigans. Keep up the pressure, but be conservative with the back three.

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59’: This explains everything. Here is footage of Niko Kovac’s halftime speech:

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55’: GOAL! Gnabry to Muller to Lewandowski! What a combination play!!!

They call him STORMTANK!

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53’: GOAL! Thomas Muller with a fantastic goal off a beautiful header feed from Lewandowski! The game is knotted at 2-2!!

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52’: Niklas Dorsch has subbed off for Heidenheim. Arne Feick has come on.

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48’: Bayern’s back three consists of Hummels, Boateng, and Kimmich as Bayern is looking to try something — anything — to knot this game.

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SECOND HALF KICKOFF: Rafinha is off in favor of Kingsley Coman, while Lewndowski is on for James.

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Halftime thoughts:

• The red card to Sule was a complete game changer. I’m not sure it was fully warranted, but it was called and Bayern had to react.
• After Goretzka’s header put Bayern ahead, Bayern got a bit sloppy. The lack of discipline with the formation (when knowing they were playing with 10) was lackadaisical at best and completely negligent at worst. Bayern needs to be better than that.
• The offensive personnel are trying to be too pretty against a team that has no interest in trying to play a pretty game.
• It’s not impossible to come back from here by any means, but Heidenheim has played with a lot of pride and grit. They will not just roll over for Bayern.

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Halftime: Well...that was not good. Heidenheim leads 2-1.

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45’+2: Not enough urgency for Bayern to be honest. Somewhere Jose Mourinho is running his hands together in a sinister way.

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45’: There will be four minutes of extra time in this half or roughly enough time for me to drink this beer.

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44’: Nothing really makes much sense for Bayern. Subbing in Boateng to provide stability was a good idea, but it seems like the squad completely abandoned all defensive responsibility.

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39’: GOAL! Bayern now trails 2-1 as Marc Schnatterer puts Heidenheim ahead! Bayern’s defensive formation left a gaping hole that Heidenheim just completely and utterly exposed. Rafinha was MIA. This is not looking good for Bayern.

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36’: Heidenheim is going to try and much this game up as much as possible. Bayern is going to have to rely on its superior athleticism to win this game. Trying to be too pretty in this one will not benefit the Bavarians.

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34’: Some fantastic elusiveness from Joshua Kimmich, but his final pass went awry.

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32’: Bayern seems to have recognized the urgency of the situation and has picked up its play, but it will have to be far more sharp offensively as this game goes on.

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30’: This is a very precarious situation for Bayern. It is not an unwinnable situation, but it is not going to be easy.

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27’: GOAL! Heidenheim evens the game on a goal from Robert Glatzel.

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23’: Jerome Boateng is in for Franck Ribery to offset the loss of Niklas Sule.

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17’: The free kick from just outside the box was MISSED!

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16’: Niklas Sule is hit with a red card after a VAR!

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12’: GOAL! Leon Goretzka heads home a corner from Joshua Kimmich!

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10’: Bayern has started to ratchet up its pace and execution.

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8’: Nice combo work there from Bayern, but to no avail.

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5’: The game is back and forth a bit without either team really establishing anything substantial.

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KICKOFF! — It’s on! For what it’s worth ESPN News has Muller at striker.

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Pregame banter: Our own John N. Dillon covered Niklas Dorsch’s take on his exit from Bayern. If you need a refresher on how that all went down, check the link below:

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Pregame banter: I already know my favorite player on Heidenheim —> Timo Beerman.

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Pregame banter: I have ESPN News up now on my TV and if I have to watch this guy take another sip of what looks like Sugar Free Red Bull I am going to lose my mind.

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Pregame banter: Kovac seems to have come around a bit on playing Thomas Muller and James Rodriguez together. There should be plenty of attacking ability even without Lewandowski as Leon Goretzka and Franck Ribery will no doubt be looking to press forward from their respective spots.

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Pregame banter: This Chuck Smith aka CSmith1919...you may recognize me from such works as the Daily Schmankerl, bashing Jogi Low (Part 1 and Part 2), and telling the world that Robert Lewandowski might not be the jerk that Bayern fans want, but is the one they need...and today I’ll leading the BFW Live Blog effort.

Obviously the big news below is that Lewandowski is out of the lineup, which almost never happens. Heading into a super important Der Klassiker with Borussia Dortmund, resting the Poland international might not be the worst idea. What do you think?

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One hour until kickoff: Niko Kovac has gone mad!

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The DFB Pokal is back! This time, Bayern Munich face a visit from 2.Bundesliga side Heidenheim to keep their Pokal dream alive. With the shadow of Borussia Dortmund looming over the team like a dark cloud, it’s up to Niko Kovac to select the best team that can win the game without compromising Der Klassiker.

Arjen Robben, Alphonso Davies, David Alaba, and Manuel Neuer are all confirmed to miss the game. That’s not great. Corentin Tolisso is fit, but apparently the club think he’s not yet ready to play a game — which is a shame, as this would have been a perfect opportunity to make a comeback.

Robert Lewandowski will need to get over his weekend finishing shenanigans if Bayern want to win this one, Aside from that, the team just needs to perform like they usually do, no dumb mistakes.

It’s Bayern time.

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Match Info

Location: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany

Time: 6:30 pm local time, 12:30 pm EST

TV/streaming: Fubo.tv, Find Your Country

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