Werder Bremen 0-1 Bayern Munich: Initial reactions and observations

Initial observations

• The game had its fair share of drama despite Werder Bremen’s very long odds. Bremen played very well to hold Bayern to 1-0 and stifle their offense. But they could not stop Lewandowski and they could not get past Neuer in the end.
• Bayern leaned very heavily on its left today. Almost everything seemed to progress through Alphonso Davies and Kingsley Coman. Gnabry hardly made an impression today, and Pavard played very high up the pitch as if to compensate. Was Gnabry not totally fit?
• Have yourself a day Jerome Boateng! Boateng was my personal Meister of the Match. He was a rock on defense, and his assist is icing on the cake.
• Kimmich was a monster in the midfield. He dominated the midfield and played most of the game roaming back and forth in Bremen’s half or in the corner. He served up 5 key passes for his teammates. Just back luck none went in.

---

90+4’ — MIA SAN MEISTER! The final whistle has blown. Bayern Munich has won the game 1-0 and its 8th consecutive Bundesliga title.

---

90’ — WHAT A SAVE BY MANUEL NEUER! As Bremen scramble into Bayern’s penalty area, Neuer leaps right and flicks away a shot right to the lower left corner. Bayern stays in the lead.

---

89’ — Kimmich also carded for leaping into Yuya Osako.

---

88’ — Pizza time! Claudio Pizarro has entered the game for Vejlkovic. Bremen is all in.

Langkamp receives a yellow for a foul on Lewandowski.

---

87’ — Boateng denies Bremen yet another chance as he gets a foot on a breakaway cross.

---

85’ — Bayern nearly lose control in the box as Josh Sargent plays the ball off of Boateng’s arm. No handball awarded.

---

84’ — Hernandez goes down in a collision with Bartels. Klaassen is replaced by Niclas Füllkrug.

---

82’ — Coman delivers a fantastic cross to Lewandowski. He misses the ball and is called for a foul.

---

81’ — Coman slaloms into the penalty area and shoots, but cannot get by Pavlenka.

Substitution: Lucas Hernandez replaces Gnabry.

---

79’ — Alphonso Davies is sent off with a second yellow card! Bayern will have to hold on to their lead with just ten men.

---

76’ — Oh boy, some vintage Neuer there. He flies out of the box to snuff out one chance, then sticks around to kill a rebound before dashing back.

---

74’ — Müller heads a cross to a wide open...space and throws up his arms in frustration because nobody is there!

---

71’ — Gebre Selassie slips past the defense and fires a good cross inside. Boateng blocks it. Fantastic match from the big man today.

---

65’ — Coman is fouled by Sargent in a decent position for a free kick. Will Alaba go for goal?

No, Kimmich tries to lob it in, but Pavlenka punches it away.

---

62 — Josh Sargent comes on for Bittencourt, and Finn Bartels replaces Rashica for Bremen.

---

60’ — Lewandowski dives just shy of a forward pass by Müller. The 2-0 will have to wait.

---

56’ — Eggestein gets a yellow card for knocking Davies in the jaw.

---

55’ — Müller gets on the end of another wonderful pass forward and serves the ball to Lewandowski. Lewy stunningly puts it away with his rear foot in midair. Just a stunning finish, but sadly ruled offside.

---

52’ — Müller makes a delightfully improbable run along the goal line. As Bremen counter, Neuer snuffs out the attack before it can start, clearing the ball away closer to the halfway line than his own goal.

---

49’ — Bremen is taking some risks to push into Bayern’s half. On defense, they are dropping back basically into a 6-3-1.

---

46’ — The second half has kicked off! For Bremen, Kevin Vogt has been replaced by Sebastian Langkamp. The commentators suspect he must have hurt himself somehow, having played well.

---

Halftime observations

• Have you seen Serge Gnabry? I haven’t! Well, I saw him once, I think, and he was offisde. Seriously, though, Kingsley Coman has been in the middle of everything. It hasn’t gone great, but I’d take it any day over a no show.
• BOA KING! What a fantastic half by Jerome Boateng. He has simply been outstanding, and that’s even without considering his fantastic assist to Lewandowski.
• Benji, what are you doing? Part of Gnabry’s problems today may be the fact that his partner Pavard has been pushing forward way up the right half space like a hybrid forward playing between Gnabry and the center forwards. Is this Flick’s plan to overwhelm Niklas Moisander and Davy Klaassen? It has produced some interesting plays, but the sacrifice in width might not justify it.
• Props to Bremen for coming to play. They’re in a bad place this season, but they are not parking the bus today.

---

Halftime! It was a slog, but Bayern Munich has a 1-0 lead.

---

45+1 — Davies airmails a cross to Gnabry, who then airmails his shot.

---

43’ — GOAL! A long ball from Boateng reaches Lewandowski, who chests it and shoots. The volley hits the pitch and flies into the goal!

VAR reviews it for offside — Thomas Müller was standing behind the last defender — but not Lewy: the goal stands!

---

40’ — Leon Goretzka is annoyed with Pavard for grounding a header he could have taken off yet another corner.

---

39’ — Bayern wins another corner, but Kimmich’s kick is caught by the keeper. Bittencourt is called for knocking Benjamin Pavard down on a counter.

---

37’ — Poor effort from Gnabry, who plays the ball to an opponent and then loses his man.

---

33’ — Boateng takes a shot on goal from long range. But Pavlenka scoops it up.

---

27’ — Lewandowski takes an elbow to the jaw from Gebre Selassie in Bremen’s penalty area. No foul called.

---

26’ — Kimmich finds Gnabry out right. Gnabry crosses inside, but just behind Müller, and Lewandowski misses the ball, as well. Kimmich takes a shot, but it’s off the crossbar! And then the linesman kills the play, because Gnabry had started from an offside position to begin with.

---

23’ — Coman almost heads the ball into the top left corner off a cross by Müller. Lewandwoski had been involved in the buildup, so Coman moved into his position in the center.

---

21’ — Boateng scolds Rashica after he goes to ground in the penalty box on a simple tackle.

---

19’ — Yellow card: Davies booked for contact with Bittencourt. It was a strange incident: Davies may have kicked Bittencourt while reacting to the initial contact. At any rate, the game moves on.

On replay, Davies looks like he deliberately hooked Bittencourt’s leg after the latter had jerked him forcibly into his body by the jersey.

---

18’ — Eggestein takes a shot from outside the box, aiming for the bottom left corner. Neuer had it covered, but the ball goes wide of the post.

---

13’ — Davies flies back to cut off Bittencourt behind him, but Bittencourt uses Davies’ momentum against him to break free, but Neuer catches his cross without difficulty.

---

12’ — Kimmich feeds the ball to Coman just inside the corner of the box, but he shoots far to the left of the goal.

---

8’ — Bremen plays the ball to Rashica and Bittencourt keeps the play alive as reinforcements arrive. Bremen commits six men forward, giving Gebre Selassie a chance to shoot. He hits the side netting.

---

4’ — Close call for Bremen. Davies receives the ball advanced up the left (potentially offside), sends the ball across the face of the goal, but Müller is too late and Gnabry likewise misses it.

---

2’ — half chance for Bayern as Lewandowski tries to volley a lobbed pass by Kimmich. First corner for Bayern. Kimmich takes the corner short and sends Lewandowski another pass. Foul called.

---

Kickoff — We’re underway! Let’s get those 3 points!

---

One hour until kickoff: We have lineups!

---

Here we are, guys. The longest Bundesliga season in recent memory is finally coming to an end. While there are still two more games to go after this, Bayern Munich could clinch the title this matchday with a win over Werder Bremen.

The big news is that both Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller return to the lineup. Lewandowski is still 11 goals away from breaking Gerd Muller’s all-time Bundesliga scoring record, and he’ll need to murder Bremen if he wants to get it. Meanwhile, Thomas Muller probably wants a few more assists added to his seasonal tally, to put him clear of Kevin De Bruyne and Emil Forsberg in the record books.

Aside from that, there aren’t too many storylines to focus on for this game. Maybe Lucas Hernandez could get a start at center back, giving David Alaba a short rest. Or maybe Javi Martinez could get a short outing in midfield. This could have been a great opprutunity to rotate, but all the players who need the minutes are injured. So Hansi Flick will likely opt for a champagne XI, and let the players go all out.

It’s Bayern time.

---

Match Info

Location: Weser Stadium, Bremen, Germany

Time: 8:30 pm local time, 2:30 pm EST

TV/streaming: Fubo.tv, Find Your Country

Tips for commenting:

1. If you’re a new member, feel free to introduce yourself. We’re mostly very friendly! Also, we’re from all parts of the world so don’t feel shy if you’re from a country that doesn’t seem represented on the blog.
2. SBN is a little slow to show new comments. Refresh the page regularly to keep up with the discussion, especially after goals.
3. The goal celebrations are for everyone to participate in! Even if you’re lagging behind the others, keep replying to the most recent call of the player’s name. Even if you missed the first call, just start from the second, and so on.
4. While swearing is allowed within reason, please be polite to your fellow posters and avoid gratuitous obscenities. Racist, homophobic, and misogynistic language is not allowed whatsoever.

Check out our beginners thread if you have any more questions. That’s about it. Auf geht’s!

Looking for an unending well of Bayern Munich content? Sign up for an SBNation account and join the conversation on Bavarian Football Works. Whether it’s full match coverage and analysis, breaking news or something completely different, we have it all.