Bayern Munich 2-2 Hertha Berlin: Initial reactions and observations

Initial reaction and observations

• Bayern needs more attacking options.
• Bayern fielded a great starting eleven, but did not have any strong options to come off the bench. With Ivan Perisic and Leon Goretzka unavailable, Bayern did not have a strong attacking option to bring fresh legs into the game when they went down. Hopefully these two will be back soon and Bayern will be able to bring more attacking players in before the window closes.
• Hertha Berlin may be a better team than we thought.
• Berlin was active this offseason bringing in players like Lukebakio to add an attacking threat. With Bundesliga-newcomers Union becoming the second team in the German capital this season, there is more pressure on Hertha to perform this year. Today they showed that they are going to be strong this year and that they can match up against the best teams.
• Bayern’s eighth consecutive Meisterschale will not come easily
• While I am not at all counting Bayern out this season, today is another example of how good the Bundesliga is getting. Bayern will need to minimize the mistakes and not drop silly points, at home especially, if they want to win their eighth consecutive title. The next three match will be tough, but will be a good opportunity for Bayern to reestablish their dominance in the Bundesliga, if they can win them.

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90’ + 3 The final whistle blows. Games ends in a draw: 2-2

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90’ — Bayern will have 3 minutes of stoppage time to look for a winner.

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86’ — Substitution for Bayern. Davies comes on for Gnabry.

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85’ — Substitution for Bayern. Renato Sanchez comes in for Thomas Mueller.

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82’ — Lewandowski is found five yards outside the box. Ensuing freekick can’t clear the wall.

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78’ — Substitution for Berlin. Skjelbred on for Duda

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75’ — Yellow Card. Benjamin Pavard for a foul outside of the box. Lewandowski also picks up yellow for dissent.

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72’ — Missed chance! Kimmich put a ball in to Gnabry who plays the ball centrally to an open Tolisso, who put it wide.

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71’ — Yellow Card. Thomas Mueller

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68’ — Substitution for Berlin: Selke comes on for Lukebakio.

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62’ — Substitution for Berlin: Esswein comes on for Ibisivic

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59’ — PK GOAL! Lewandowski scores on the ensuing penalty

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57’— VAR. The center-official is looking at potential penalty. Penalty is given. Marko Grojic pulled Lewy down in the box away from the play

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53’ — Bayern is once again on the front foot and have had multiple chances, but nothing has lead to a legitimate chance on goal.

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46’ — The second half is underway. No substitutions for either team

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Halftime Observations

Bayern were the better team for the first 30 minutes

FC Bayern came out on the front foot and were a force to reckoned with, as per usual at home. You could feel Lewy’s goal coming for a long time and after he scored, it felt like Bayern was going to cruise to a win.

Bayern’s inability to score when leading could prove costly

Bayern failed to put opponents away time and time again last season. Although they were the better team for most of the half, the inability to score a second goal has cost them the lead going into halftime. Bayern now has to find out how to come back and finish off this game strong.

Lukebakio feels too at-home at the Allianz Arena

After scoring at hat-trick last year while playing for Fortuna Dusseldorf, Lukebakio has scored four goals in 1.5 games at the Allianz. Some players just have a knack to score against certain teams. Bayern would be smart to keep a defender on him.

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Halftime — Bayern goes into the locker room down 2-1 after scoring first.

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45’ — Three minutes of stoppage time.

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37’ — GOAL! Hertha BSC Marko Grujic makes it 2-1 for the visitors.

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36’ — GOAL! Hertha BSC. Lukebakio shoots from way outside the box and it deflects off of his teammate and into the goal.

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31’ — Gnabry is fouled 5 yards out. Kimmich’s ensuing freekick is dealt with by Hertha’s defense.

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24’ — GOAL! Lewandowski scored on a Gnabry assist.

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20’ — Neuer comes out of his box to sweep up a ball put over the top for Lukebacio.

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16’ — Yellow Card, Hertha BSC. Dorida pulls down Coman to stop a fast break.

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11’ — Lewandowski goes down in the box, but no penalty is given. He stays down in the box for a while. After a delay, he is up and play resumes.

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7’ — A quick Bayern Counter attack ends with Thomas Mueller shooting just wide from outside the box.

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4’ — Bayer has been on the front foot so far. One shot on goal recorded by Bayern already.

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Kickoff — We are underway at the Allianz Arena

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One hour until kickoff: We have lineups! Kovac has seemingly reverted to the 4-2-3-1, with Thomas Muller likely behind the striker.

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Leon Goretzka ruled out with thigh injury

Sky Sport reported three hours prior to kickoff that Bayern Munich’s attacking midfielder Leon Goretzka had suffered an injury and was unavailable to play against Hertha Berlin. Now Sport1’s Florian Plettenberg has confirmed that Goretzka suffered a thigh injury in Bayern’s final pregame training session yesterday:

Can confirm the report by my colleagues at Sky: Leon Goretzka definitely is out today! According to our information, he suffered a thigh injury in training yesterday.

Goretzka was very likely to start in the midfield alongside Thiago Alcantara today. His place may be taken by Corentin Tolisso or potentially Renato Sanches, depending on the rest of the starting lineup.

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After what feels like a decade of waiting, the Bundesliga is finally back. Bayern Munich take on Hertha Berlin at the Allianz Arena to kick off what feels like the most open title race in years. Both Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig will be watching this game closely, in case any chinks show in the Bavarians’ armor early on.

Niko Kovac will have almost a full squad at his disposal — only Javi Martinez (knee problems) and new signing Ivan Perisic (suspension) are expected to miss out. With that in mind, expect another iteration of the 4-3-3 we saw against Energie Cottbus, this time with Serge Gnabry finally taking his place on the right flank instead of Thomas Muller. Robert Lewandowski and Kingsley Coman are expected to reprise their roles, but Kovac’s preferred midfield combination remains a mystery.

In any case, Bayern will be expected to win the game and show the league that they have no intention of relinquishing the title crown any time soon. It’ll be a good way to shut up the doomsayers for a little bit — at least until the next Bild article.

It’s Bayern time.

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Match Info

Location: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany

Time: 8:30 pm local time, 2:30 pm EST

TV/streaming: Fubo.tv, Find Your Country

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