Five observations from Bayern Munich’s 1:1 draw against FC Kaiserslautern in a charity match

A back-3 for a day

Niko Kovač tried something new today. Instead of his usual 4-2-3-1, he instead experimented with 3 center-backs and two wing-backs — including Alphonso Davies. Unfortunately, this formation failed to produce a serious defense for Bayern Munich’s goal, since they often struggled with Kaiserslatuern’s counter-attacks. Bayern’s three CB’s had a hard time catching them. Kaiserslautern’s Hendrick Zuck scored an early goal but also had a dozen chances to score a few more.

Manuel Neuer’s heir already at Bayern?

Manuel Neuer didn’t travel with his teammates today. Sven Ulreich was between the posts for the first 45 minutes. In the second half, Christian Früchtl came in as a substitute. He made a few marvelous saves and timely runs. But what surprised me the most was his accurate passing. He was often found under pressure from Kaiserslautern’s attack, but he managed to successfully find his teammates time and time again. Surely a great prospect!

The future is bright!

Although Bayern oftentimes found themselves struggling defensively, they had a lot of good chances. And attack-wise Bayern was very good today. Davies and Joshua Zirkzee both stood out for me. Davies was a constant threat and always switched sides. He made several few intelligent dribbles and had good ideas for passing. He finished the game playing at left-back. Zirkzee is definitely the future of Bayern’s attack. He had a few good chances, but Kaiserslautern’s goalkeeper did his job well. Even though he did not score a goal, it was nice to see his passion and willingness to chase every ball and put pressure on the defenders.

Big guns for the draw

Although the youngsters did generally well, they still struggled to score. That changed when Kovač brought on Kingsley Coman, Franck Ribery, and Robert Lewandowski. Right away, Bayern’s play became much more fluent and more dangerous. Coman made a beautiful dribble and assisted Lewandowski for one of the easiest goals he’ll eve score. Ribery also found himself in few good opportunities and almost scored once.

Bayern show what football is really about

Football is not just about money, even though modern football represents itself like it is. Bayern showed today (and numerous times before) what football is really about — having respect and decency for your opponents. FC Kaiserslautern found themselves on a brink of financial bankruptcy, but Bayern stepped up and helped them out. FC Kaiserslautern stated that all tickets were sold out for today’s match. There are roughly 48K seats in the stadium. The lowest ticket was 30 euros. You do the math. Hopefully, it will be enough for Kaiserslautern.