Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Bayern Munich: Initial reactions and observations

Initial reactions and observations:

• Hansi Flick worked his magic on the players at halftime as Bayern turned up a different side for the second half.
• Goretzka’s substitution for Marc Roca bore fruit as it added much needed muscle in the Bayern midfield which allowed to add collective pressure and create more chances while holding the attacking Frankfurters at bay.
• Leroy Sane himself had a game of contrasting halves. He lost the ball often and was also involved in the mistake that lead to Frankfurt’s first goal. In the second half however Sane bamboozled the homeside defenders often with his dribbling and created multiple chances — the best put away by Lewandowski to score Bayern’s first and only goal.
• Adi Hutter and Frankfurt were well drilled to play Bayern and executed their plans perfectly in the first half before expectedly tiring out in the second. They managed to hold on their early lead and wrest the 3 points deservingly from the Champions.

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FULLTIME: Frankfurt manage to deservingly beat the Champions Bayern 2-1.

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90’: Substitution for Bayern. Javi Martinez comes on for Bayern’s best attacker Leroy Sane while still trailing by a goal. Surprising.

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83’: Double Substitution for Bayern. Lucas hernandez and Jamal Musiala come on for Kingsley Coman and Choupo-Moting.

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70’: Bayern come close to the equaliser after a wonderful connection between the wingers Sane and Coman.

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61’: YELLOW! The Bayern coach goes into the ref’s book for some sideline action.

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52’: GOAL! Wonderful setup by Sane finished by Lewy. Bayern cut down the lead by half.

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46’: The second half is underway, as Bayern have a harsh two goal deficit to overcome in 45 minutes. Hansi Flick uses a half time substitution to beef up the midfield and bring Leon Goretzka on for Marc Roca.

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Halftime Observations:

• While the game started evenly, the five minute pause due to the assistant referee’s injury and substitution seems to have put the Bavarians out of focus as Frankfurt overwhelmed the visitors once the game resumed scoring a goal just two minutes in.
• Bayern are clearly missing the press machine Thomas Muller’s presence in midfield as Frankfurt just eased past the midfield like water through a sieve. His creative abilities were missed too as Frankfurt chomped down on any advancing Bayern players through the middle leaving the flanks as the only option.
• The Frankfurt side’s movements were repetitive, precise and effective going forward while brilliantly closing down Bayern’s forwards whenever the home side turned over possession to the visitors.

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45’: Neuer makes a crucial save to keep the scoreline at 2-0. 6 minutes added on owing to the assistant ref’s injury stoppage.

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44’: Choupo-Moting ‘s shot off a low cross from Sane misses the goal.

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40’: Great chance for Bayern denied by Kevin Trapp twice! What a pair of solid saves!

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31’: GOAL! Bayern are in deep trouble as Frankfurt score a sensational second goal.

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12’: GOAL! Frankfurt draw first blood as Kostic finds Kamada with a clever cross finished cleanly!

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10’: Play resumes after a substitute ref is brought on, what a grief!

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5’: Play is paused as it looks like one of the offside referees is injured.

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KICKOFF!: The ball is set rolling in Frankfurt!

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One hour until kickoff: We have lineups! Flick did exactly what he was expected to do, no surprises.

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How does this happen every year? We’re in the business end of the season, and Bayern Munich are once again inundated with injuries. Making things worse, Flick has no chance to rest his players since Eintracht Frankfurt are one of the best teams in the league right now.

So what’s going to happen? Nothing pretty, probably. People will say that Flick has guys like Robert Lewandowski, Joshua Kimmich, David Alaba etc. but that’s hardly enough when you have so many games to play. After this, Bayern have to travel to Italy to face Lazio in the Champions League. Let’s just hope Flick has something up his sleeve. Bayern can’t afford to keep dropping points in the league.

It’s Bayern time.

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Match Info

Location: Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt, Germany

Time: 3:30 pm local time, 9:30 am EST

TV/streaming: ESPN+, Find Your Country

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