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It’s a lot of fun doing these Bayern Munich Twitch streams. I get to interact with you all and respond to your comments in real time, I get to see what you’re thinking, and you all help me make the best decisions possible.
So, I think you can all agree with me that the highlight of this last game was when I kicked the ball out of bounds on purpose, just so I could sub off Timo Werner.
In fairness to him, he had a good game, but there were just a lot of moments where we all decided to collectively pile on to Timo (and by extension, his biggest fan, Timo Train Conductor Chuck Smith) for his “poor” performance.
BuLi MD4 - Bayern Munich @ Grass Ball Sport Leipzig (RB Leipzig)
So, we took a trip to a rainy Red Bull Arena to take on a very confused, misaligned Leipzig side who were clearly missing a lot of players.
Hearken back to the Transfer Deadline Day Special we released. In this one August window, Leipzig sold not only Timo Werner, but a majority of their backline starters. In addition to Dayot Upamecano joining us, they sold their captain Willi Orban to Watford of all places, with Marcel Halstenberg joining him in England after moving to Manchester United. Add Ibrahima Konaté joining VfL Wolfsburg and it’s hard to predict what their starting lineup would be.
At the end of the day, they went with a 4-2-2-2 (behaving like a 2-2-3-3) with a backline of:
Lukas Klostermann - new signing Rick van Drongelen - Stefan Ilsanker - Nordi Mukiele
Let’s contextualize that: a RB playing at LB in Klostermann, a good new signing in Van Drongelen paired with a midfielder in center half, and a CB playing at right back.
Bayern countered with this lineup:
Lewandowski
Sané - Müller - Werner
Thiago - Goretzka
Alaba - Hernandez - Upamecano - Kimmich
Neuer
21’ GOAL from Leon Goretzka (RBL 0:1 FCB)
If at first you don’t succeed, score score again. A great pass from Müller led to an initial shot from Goretzka that was blocked by RBL’s backline. But they were unable to clear it as Leon continued to fight for the ball. He won it and was able to tuck it underneath Péter Gulásci for the first goal of the game.
40’ GOAL from Thomas Müller (RBL 0:2 FCB)
A good run from Timo Werner gets this chance started off. He did some skill moves to allow for the team to break forward, but sent in a half hearted cross. Fortunately, Thomas Müller was in the box and put a good header onto the ball which went off the inside post and over the line.
43’ GOAL from Robert Lewandowski (RBL 0:3 FCB)
A poor pass from CB Stefan Ilsanker led to a wonderful run from Leroy Sané down the wings. He sends an incisive pass to Müller in the box who dumped it off to Lewandowski standing in front of goal for the quick conversion.
That was the half, with Leipzig substituting Patrik Schick for Matheus Cunha before coming back on.
52’ POST HIT from Timo Werner (RBL 0:3 FCB)
Go to the 13:20 mark of the video to watch this horrendous miss from Werner. He’s gifted a pass from Lewandowski, breaks forward and has daylight between him and Gulásci, but he hits it off the post. Cue our laughter. It’s such a bad miss I have to do something about it...
67’ SUBSTITUTION: Alphonso Davies for Timo Werner (RBL 0:3 FCB)
The funniest part about this is that I made David Alaba kick the ball out of bounds to make it. I was initially going to bring on Serge Gnabry, but I wanted for a Left Back to do better at winger than Timo was just to rub it in.
71’ PENALTY for LEIPZIG / Yellow Card to Lucas Hernandez (RBL 0:3 FCB)
This was a bit scary. Kevin Kampl was cutting into the box and Hernandez mistimed his tackle by just a hair. Shocking that he wasn’t sent off.
71’ PENALTY SAVED: Manuel Neuer on Marcel Sabitzer (RBL 0:3 FCB)
Manu the Wall still reigns supreme in the BuLi. He guesses correctly by diving left and blocks Sabitzer’s attempt with ease.
76’ SUBSTITUTION: Benjamin Pavard for Lucas Hernandez (RBL 0:3 FCB)
I can’t have Luca on the pitch any longer after that yellow card as he made a few more risky moves. Pavard replaces him, and does a decent job for the rest of the game at center back.
79’ GOAL from Alphonso Davies (RBL 0:4 FCB)
Wonderful linkup play between Davies and Müller results in a give and go pass straight into the box. Phonzie blasts it into the far left corner, a shot that Timo probably would have missed, and extends the lead.
85’ SUBSTITUTION: Ivan Perisič for Leroy Sané
I did this just because I wanted to see if another winger could do better than Werner. I didn’t need to make it, I just wanted to.
89’ GOAL from Leon Goretzka (RBL 0:5 FCB)
FINALLY WE SCORED FROM A CORNER! The cross from Kimmich finds van Drongelen’s head who puts it down in front of Goretzka. Leon launches it at the goal, it goes off Gulásci’s hands and into the net. A brace for him today.
And that’s it. A 5-0 dominant performance from Bayern will put them ahead of a lot of teams in terms of goal difference.
Match Awards
Jersey Swap: Leipzig’s Whole Backline
Honestly, there wasn’t anyone on that RBL team who did well at all this game. The only person to get above a 7.5 rating was Rick van Drongelen who was 6 for 6 on tackles in this game. Otherwise, their porous defense was exposed all day long and made for a nightmare of a performance.
Tip of the Cap: Alphonso Davies and Manuel Neuer
There were 8 Bayern players who had in-game ratings of 8.0 or better, so it was hard to choose. But, I’ll have to go with the substitute who came on and scored 13 minutes after coming on and the keeper who put up 6 saves, including a penalty, to keep the second clean sheet of the season.
Golf Clap: Robert Lewandowski
The Polish Wonder struck again with his second goal of the season. He’s only one behind Müller as of right now, and seems more than able to pick his form back up again. He’s locked down that striker spot as his own, and won’t give it up anytime soon.
Standing Ovation: Thomas Müller
An amazing performance from the Ramdeuter today puts him here. He had the same in-game rating as our MOTM, but his 1 goal and 2 assists really came at clutch times for the team. Considering that the initial pass for Goretzka’s first goal came from Thomas before it was blocked AND that he and van Drongelen were heading the ball the same way before Leon scored off the corner, it’s possible Tommy almost had four assists in this game. Amazing if you think about it.
Meister of the Match: Leon Goretzka
The first Bayern player to score a brace this season earns his spot on the list. He’s secured his spot in the pivot position alongside Thiago as they each have become formidable passers. His two goals were scrappy and the definition of perseverance. So an amazing job from the young German today.
Tomorrow is our FIRST CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GAME against Tottenham Hotspur. I will be streaming much earlier than normal, at 11:00am ET (8:00am PT / 17:00 CET), so be ready for that. Thank you for tuning in and we will see you tomorrow!