Three observations from Bayern Munich’s 0:3 win vs. Arminia Bielefeld

The Bayern Munich backline remains rather shaky

Tanguy Nianzou started today and could have been sent off for a poor challenge in the first half. Masaya Okugawa was offside by a hair, having beaten the backline convincingly from a long ball. Patrick Wimmer had Dayot Upamecano and Nianzou’s number pretty much all first half. Julian Nagelsmann in fact brought in Josip Stanisic to steady the ship in the second half. All in all — back two, three or four — that backline needs work. A long ball over the top should not beat a world class team repeatedly.

Questions for/about Julian Nagelsmann because....why not?

Going back to the first leg against Villarreal, Nagelsmann chose to start Alphonso Davies that day. However, he has been giving Nianzou regular outings in the Bundesliga. Giving Omar Richards more regular outings and starting him against Villarreal was an option which Nagelsmann did not use, instead choosing to go with a player returning from a long layoff in Alphonso Davies. Might things have been different if Nagelsmann had chosen to go with a player who had more match practice?

Furthermore, the back-line’s indecisiveness continues and maybe, starting with Josip Stanisic today, who had a very promising beginning to the season, might have been the better option. Nagelsmann needs a set team and a set formation; we might have to wait till next season to find out.

Praise for Alphonso Davies and Jamal Musiala

Jamal Musiala continues to make a case to be in the starting XI; he is too talented to not be in the first XI but also too young to regularly command a place in the team. He is excellent whenever he plays and he is one of the bright spots in a season which is coming to a tame ending for Bayern.

Davies came back from injury rusty as is to be expected but is working his way back to his best form. The Canadian continues to excel whether that be in a back three or four and his absence due to injury showed us his true importance to Bayern. Also, as a sidenote, I just want to point out Joshua Kimmich’s range of passing — for a player with such vision, he has really had a rather underwhelming season.

That’s it from me! I hope you enjoyed the game and, as always, thank you for reading!