Bayern Munich 5-0 Schalke: Initial reactions and observations

Initial reactions and observations

• Another thrashing courtesy of Hansi Flick. David Wagner was thoroughly out-coached.
• Alphonso Davies is amazing. He bullied Schalke all night on the flank, dribbling past their defenders like they were traffic cones and stopping attacks with sheer physicality. Some of his challenges were so nonchalant you’d forget that this was a 19 year old kid on the pitch. What a game.
• Leon Goretzka probably deserves MotM. He was everywhere, helping both offensively and defensively. This was his best game of the season so far.
• Thomas Muller seems to have rediscovered his killer instinct. Two goals in two games while playing out of position. Who knows how good he’ll be once Coman and Gnabry are fit, and he doesn’t have to play on the wing anymore.
• You know how all goalkeepers turn into prime Manuel Neuer when facing Bayern? Schubert ... didn’t.

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89’ — Schubert has had a howler. Gnabry shoots and it ricochets off his legs into the net.

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74’ — Schalke is just totally checked out. On a corner kick, nobody on their defense notices Robert Lewandowski standing totally unmarked at the far post. The ball goes straight to him and he shoots. Schubert is probably thanking his lucky stars that the shot hits the post.

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Check out Thiago and Lewandowski’s collaboration for 4-0:

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58’ — GOAL! Thiago makes it 4-0! Schalke loses possession in the heart of the midfield and Bayern’s Master Burglar runs off with the ball. He plays Lewandowski forward. Lwey charges into the box, but cuts right to lose one man and then lays the ball of to Thiago to finish.

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50’ — GOAL! Goretzka makes it 3-0!

What a goal, too! Leon Goretzka tries to head a shot forward, but it’s blocked up into the air. He tracks it and hammers it home with a scissor-kick. Early contender for goal of the month for sure.

Leon Goretzka’s stunner of a goal:

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Half-time observations:

• Amazing team play: Flick seems to know how to make this team work well and it is a pleasure to watch these players play. Both goals were a thing of beauty.
• Good attacking effort from Bayern. If VAR wasn’t involved it would have been 4:0 for the Bavarians, but besides those two canceled goals, Bayern had plenty of chances and really showed some character and will.
• Well organized defense: Both Boateng and Alaba played really well during the first half and allowed very little space for Schalke’s pacey attackers. Wing-backs Pavard and Davies had one of the better half-time performances and they terrorized the opposition.
• Perišić and Thiago are revitalized!

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Half-time break! We’ll be back soon

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Check out goal no. 100 for Thomas Müller at home!

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45’+ — GOAL! Thomas Muller scores just before half-time whistle to make it 2:0

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Check out Lewandowski’s great volley off a smart assist by Perisic:

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6’ — GOAL! Lewandowski scores after Schalke’s goalkeeper Schubert made a costly error.

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Kickoff! We’re underway in Munich. With RB Leipzig’s loss to Eintracht Frankfurt, this game becomes all the more significant. Hopefully, Bayern are able to bring their A-game and take Schalke down.

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One hour until kickoff: Lineups are out! This was unexpected — Hansi Flick has opted for a 4-3-3. Let’s see how that works for him.

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It’s Saturday, which means that Bayern Munich can finally return to action in the Bundesliga! It’s a shame that Schalke are actually quite good at football this year, because the Bavarians find themselves in yet another close title race, and will have to fight tooth-and-nail for every point.

Hansi Flick faces another one of his big tests, so he’ll want to make a good impression. Luckily, Serge Gnabry is back from injury, so he should be ready to start — allowing Thomas Muller to move back to his preferred position behind Robert Lewandowski at striker. That is, of course, if Flick doesn’t opt to put Philippe Coutinho there instead.

In addition, Joshua Kimmich is back from suspension, so it’ll be interesting to see where he plays. It’s probably going to be midfield, given that the coach now has actual options at right back, but we’d rather not see Thiago Alcantara benched. Oh well, you can’t have it all, I guess. If you want a more detailed preview, check out our lineups.

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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