Three observations from Bayern Munich’s 5-2 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt

A one-sided contest first 50 minutes

Bayern outplayed Eintracht Frankfurt throughout the game. Lacking the advantage of being the home team, Bayern showed why they have the better squad and why they are 13 positions above Frankfurt in the Bundesliga table. The first twenty minutes was so dominant it was only a question of time when the first goal was going to come. Thomas Müller brilliantly ripped open the untidy Frankfurt defense and Leon Goretzka nicely finished the well-worked attack off. Muller got on the scoresheet himself four minutes before the end of the first half in a typical Muller-esque finish inside the penalty box. After Lewandowski scored Bayern’s third and his 27th of the season one minute after referee Marco Fritz blew the whistle to start the second half, Frankfurt had no shots on target. The game, as a contest, looked over.

A timely 3-minute brain slip

Then Frankfurt got two corners and Martin Hinteregger, who had six Bundesliga goals this season before this game, scored both of them. Two corners and the space of three minutes turned a game that was so one-sided completely on its head.

Bayern’s marking completely zoned out for the two corners. Alphonso Davies stopped marking Hinteregger for the first goal, and Benjamin Pavard was to slow to pressure Eintracht’s leading scorer this season for the second.

A 3-minute brain slip sometimes happens. It was timely it came today, when Bayern was 3-0 up, than on Tuesday.

Bayern’s second half was not as good as the first. Even though Frankfurt reduced Bayern’s lead, the outcome was never really in doubt. Alphonso Davies capitalized from captain Gelson Fernandes’s brain slip and all thought of a miraculous come-back was over almost before it started.

Hansi Flick reluctant in giving the non-starters any playing time

Mickael Cuisance and Joshua Zirkzee only got five minutes of game-time, during a period when Bayern had been leading by three goals for eleven minutes. Could this become troublesome before the game against Borussia Dortmund? Thiago was rested throughout the game today most likely on account of the limited break before the Dortmund game. If Bayern wins against Dortmund, they will be seven points ahead of them in the league. In other words, a win against Dortmund means that the league is more or less won.

Hence, it is surprising that Flick decided not to give any substantial playing time to either Cuisance or Zirkzee. Only using four out of five possible subs, Flick decided not to use Javi Martinez, Alvaro Odriozola, Lukas Mai, or Oliver Batista Meier.

If Bayern wins against Dortmund, Flick’s reluctance in letting these players get more minutes won’t matter. In Munich, the best players play and that won’t change if Bayern keeps on getting results.

Though we are at unprecedented times, lack of stamina is a real possibility for players who were on lockdown for two months. Will Hansi Flick regret playing Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski for 90 minutes after the Dortmund game?