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Initial Reactions:
- Bayern largely dominated the game scoring three early goals and added a fourth in 66th minute, hardly giving Koln any opportunities to come back until last 15 minutes where the team switched off for a while.
- Manuel Neuer came up big as he made absolutely crucial saves which could have otherwise brought Koln back into the game at a time when Bayern had seemingly switched off. Its great to the captain come back into form as the season’s heating up!
- Hansi Flick fielded a full-strength lineup that left Koln overwhelmed and with no answer in the starting few minutes. This is probably going to be the lineup that Flick plans to field in the upcoming game against Chelsea. With the amount of chances created, Bayern will benefit from better finishing against tougher oppositions.
Full-Time — The game ends at 1-4 despite a shaky Bayern in the last 15 minutes. Bayern grab all 3 points which pushes them back to the top of the table!
82’ — Yellow Card to Pavard. He will join Boateng in missing the next game due to card accumulation
81’ — Substitution for Koln. Anthony Modeste comes on for John Cordoba
79’ — Substitution for Bayern. Kingsley Coman comes off after a good start to his return from injury for Leon Goretzka.
78’ — Yellow Card! Koln’s Bornauew goes into the referee’s book for his tackle on Lewandowski
70’ — Goal! Mark Uth scores the first goal for Koln.
66’ — Goal! Serge Gnabry scores a beautiful goal after an incredible run!
58’ — Substitution! Corentin Tolisso comes on for Joshua Kimmich.
55’ — Alaba does brilliantly to play Cordoba offside to prevent Koln from scoring their first goal of the night.
49’ — Yellow card shown to Thiago for bringing down Cordoba.
46’ — Cordoba’s goal for Koln is called off for offside! Phew!
45’ — Second half kicks off! Lucas Hernandez on for Boateng.
Halftime observations
- Thomas Muller in the middle is a joy to watch. Two assists so far and he could’ve had three more if not for some poor finishing.
- Bayern should be up by 7 or 8 goals by now, they’ve been that dominant.
- Kingsley Coman looks like he’s back. He’s bullying the poor Koln fullback.
- Serge Gnabry is playing as a pseudo-AM rather than a pure winger. Could be interesting to see how that role develops.
- Jerome Boateng needs to be more careful with his challenges.
45’ — Muller clears the bar off a great cross from Coman! Bayern continue to create chances chasing their fourth goal of the night
37’ — Kimmich hits the crossbar as Bayern continue to threaten Timo Horn’s goal!
32’ — Lewy back on his feet and looks to be alright. Phew!
31’ — Lewandowski goes down!! Jitters for the fans
29’ — Gnabry misses a good chance to score another!
28’ — Yellow Card for Jerome Boateng after a silly challenge! He will be suspended for the next game
20’ — OOF! Thiago’s shot goes wide at the end of a beautiful stretch of play
14’ — Lewandowski comes close to putting Bayern a FOURTH goal up in 14 minutes!
12’ — GNABRYYY!! Fires in the corner to put Bayern three goals up!
8’ — Gnabry fails to fire the rebound off of Kimmich’s shot into goal!
5’ — COMAAAN!!! SCORESS!! Welcome back Kingsley! Flicki-Flacka at its best! Another assist for Muller!
3’ — TOOOOOR!! LEWANGOALSKIIII!! Brilliant lay-off from Muller!
KICKOFF! — The ball is set rolling in Cologne as the Bavarians look to bring home 3 points and get back on top of the table!
One hour until kickoff: We have lineups! Flick is showing no mercy to Koln.
Unser Team für #KOEFCB! #packmas pic.twitter.com/SfqSbnB8sh
— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) February 16, 2020
The Bundesliga is ridiculously close this year. With RB Leipzig securing a 3-0 win over Werder on Saturday, Bayern Munich once again find themselves out of 1st place. Hansi Flick needs to get a win against 14th placed Koln to keep his team on top, but with Champions League fixtures looming, he also has to give thought to rotation.
With Lucas Hernandez and Kingsley Coman desperately needing minutes to get back up to speed, the coach might decide to give the two Frenchman their first starts in months. Corentin Tolisso might join them, allowing Leon Goretzka and Thiago Alcantara some rest. In attack, Robert Lewandowski will surely start, but Philippe Coutinho might come in for Thomas Muller at attacking midfield. For a more detailed lineup prediction, take a look at our preview.
It’s Bayern time.
Match Info
Location: RheinEnergieSTADION, Cologne, Germany
Time: 3:30 pm local time, 9:30 am EST
TV/streaming: Fubo.tv, Find Your Country
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