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Initial Observations and Analysis
- Bayern fans should be heartened by this performance. Flick kept the same lineup together out there that started the match, and it paid off for the Bavarians when they ratcheted up the pressure a little bit. There were good performances all over the field.
- The match was turned completely on it’s head when Klinsmann brought off Darida for Wolf, as pointed out by the esteemed John Dillon. Once that substitution was made, Bayern just overran the Hertha midfield, and there was no way back in the game.
- It was another really good performance at left back for Davies. The Canadian continues to show signs of improvement every week. It’s a terrific situation for Bayern.
- Look at how good Lewandowski was today considering that he had surgery in the winter break? The guy is another level completely.
Full Time: Hertha Berlin 0-4 Bayern Munich
87’- Gnabry comes on for Muller.
85’- Wow! What a save from Neuer. He’s still got it.
84’- TOR! IVAN PERISIC! HERTHA BERLIN 0-4 BAYERN MUNICH
Perisic gets a well-deserved goal for his performance on the day. Muller lifts a cross to the back post, and Perisic leaps above everyone and heads it toward goal. While Jarstein was able to get a hand to it, he couldn’t keep it out of the back of the net.
82’- Flick brings off Coutinho for Cuisance.
81’- Coutinho is played in by Lewandowski, and he bangs a shot off the post. Referee called it offside anyway. Hertha bring off Dilrosun for Mittelstadt.
80’- Flick makes his first sub of the match bringing on Dajaku for Davies.
75’- TOR! THIAGO ALCANTARA! HERTHA BERLIN 0-3 BAYERN MUNICH
Thiago gets inside the penalty area, and with defenders coming toward him, Thiago puts the ball into the far corner with a terrific shot. That should be game over.
73’- TOR! ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI! HERTHA BERLIN 0-2 BAYERN MUNICH!
The big striker easily scores his penalty with Jarstein diving the opposite directly.
72’- PENALTY. Easy decision from the referee as Goretzka was pulled down by his arm in the penalty area. Klunter with the dumb foul.
68’- Hertha make the first sub bringing on Wolf for Darida.
67’- Another big opportunity from the boot of Lewandowski. Somehow, while falling to the ground, Perisic found Lewandowski all alone at the top of the box with a headed pass. The striker ripped a shot toward goal, but Jarstein punched it away.
64’- CONTROVERSY. It looks to be a terrible decision from the referee to overturn a perfectly good goal from Lewandowski. He jumped to head a cross, and it appears that light contact caused Jarstein to drop the ball. Lewandowski easily put the ball into the back of the net for the 2-0 lead. The referee then ran over to VAR and made a decision within seconds that it was a foul? It makes no sense. Terrible decision. Jarstein was also shown a yellow card for dissent.
61’- TOR! THOMAS MULLER! HERTHA BERLIN 0-1 BAYERN MUNICH
The goal was a result of terrific teamwork. Goretzka played a long pass into Lewandowski at the top of the penalty area and continued his run. Lewandowski turned and played the ball into space for Goretzka, who then lofted a cross to the back post. Perisic jumped for the ball, but instead of heading it on target, Perisic dropped the header back to Muller who was all alone in the box. The Raumdeuter hammered home the shot for the 1-0 lead.
58’- A little bit of luck and a little bit of magic nearly results in Bayern’s first goal. After some passing through the area, a low ball comes in for Coutinho, and he gently pokes it past himself. There is Perisic, who whips in a hard shot that is headed away by a defender.
50’- It’s starting to look like Bayern are being a little more forceful here. Are they going to find the breakthrough?
46’- The second half has kicked off.
Halftime Observations and Analysis
- While both sides have generated numerous chances in this game, neither have been able to really challenge either Neuer or Jarstein. It’s been a lot of soft shots that have been easily gathered by the goalkeepers or shots that have missed the target entirely.
- It’s tough to figure out what changes are going to be made by Flick in this one. If Lewandowski doesn’t have 90 minutes in his legs following his surgery over the winter break, you’ll need to remove him and either go with Muller or Gnabry up top. However, the match really feels like it needs more speed on the wings. Perisic and Muller aren’t the fastest fellas in the squad.
- Davies looking like a stud out there.
- Overall, it feels like the first half was almost a win for Hertha, since they’re not losing.
45’- HALFTIME: HERTHA BERLIN 0-0 BAYERN MUNICH
43’- Selke gets behind Alaba, but the defender recovers and blocks the shot attempt.
42’- Bayern are getting a lot of opportunities here, but they’re not really challenging Jarstein with any serious efforts. Pretty easy outing for him so far.
35’- On the other end, Coutinho tries a side-footed volley, but Jarstein easily gobbles it up. A few seconds later, Muller whips in a cross that Coutinho heads right into Jarstein’s arms.
32’- Lukebakio finds an inch of daylight between himself and Davies, and he whips in a cross. Darida wasn’t anywhere to be found, though, and Thiago easily chested it back to Neuer for a pickup.
26’- Hertha will be disappointed with this one. They finally get numbers forward, but two good crosses are wasted with nobody getting near the ball.
24’- Gah! Close from Lewandowski. He beats Boyata with strength and finds himself one-on-one with Jarstein. HOWEVER, his shot is wide to the right. He’ll be disappointed with the effort.
21’- Selke sends an unmarked header way over the crossbar.
19’- Pavard gets booked for a silly challenge. An unnecessary yellow for the Frenchman.
16’- Obviously, as I say that, Lukebakio finally gets the better of Davies, but nothing comes of it.
13’- We’re almost a quarter hour into this match, and Davies is causing all sorts of problems for Hertha on the left hand side. Defensively, he’s getting back and snuffing out attacks with relative ease. Offensively, he’s regularly finding himself with the ball at his feet on the edge of the Hertha penalty area. The kid is good.
8’- A silly tackle from Darida on Thiago earns the first yellow card of the match. Just a completely unnecessary challenge, nowhere near the ball.
7’- Look, Lukebakio is fast, Hertha. I get it. However, I don’t know if he can beat Davies in a foot race. If that’s your plan for the night, it may not go the way you think.
5’- There was almost a brilliant ball from deep by Thiago into space for Perisic, but Jarstein came way out of his box and chested it away. If the goalkeeper hadn’t read that ball so well, Perisic would’ve been in all alone.
2’- Bayern opened with a long ball into the corner and, while nothing came of it, heavily pressured Hertha into a turnover deep in their end. An attempt to counter with a long ball over the top was easily snuffed out by Alaba.
Kickoff: We’re underway in Berlin!
One hour until kickoff: Lineups are out! It’s as we feared, Thomas Muller starts on the wing, with Serge Gnabry on the bench.
Unsere Elf für #BSCFCB! #packmas pic.twitter.com/dnZHIKXSV8
— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) January 19, 2020
After a month of waiting, the Bundesliga is finally back! With Gladbach dropping points this weekend, Bayern Munich have a huge chance to climb up to 2nd place on the league table and keep the pressure up on RB Leipzig. Unfortunately, the opponents today are Hertha Berlin, who have always been a bit of a bogey team for the Bavarians.
Hansi Flick has a whole host of absentees to deal with — Niklas Sule (knee), Lucas Hernandez (ankle), Kingsley Coman (knee), Javi Martinez (hamstring), and Joshua Kimmich (yellow card suspension) will all miss the game. On the bright side, Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry have recovered from their injuries, and should be available for the game. Lewandowski will be keen to open his account for the new decade, given that Timo Werner just overtook him on the league scoring charts with a brace against Union Berlin yesterday.
If Gnabry doesn’t play, Thomas Muller may have to man the wings, which is not an ideal situation for the Bavarians. Hopefully that won’t be the case, but Hansi Flick may prefer to put Muller there over someone like Coutinho, who is a lot less comfortable outside of his usual position. At the back, it’s up to David Alaba to keep things stable as the new leader of the defense.
It’s Bayern time.
Match Info
Location: Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany
Time: 3:30 pm local time, 9:30 am EST
TV/streaming: Fubo.tv, Find Your Country
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