Thomas Müller vents his frustration for Bayern Munich’s 2-2 draw vs. VfB Stuttgart

Bayern Munich suffered their third straight draw in the Bundesliga by virtue of finishing 2-2 against VfB Stuttgart at the Allianz Arena, in what will be a frustrating point to digest, especially after such a positive and dominant performance against Inter Milan midweek in the Champions League. A late, late penalty from Serhou Guirassy salvaged the point for the visitors after Jamal Musiala had undone Chris Führich’s equalizer that had brought the Swabians level after Mathys Tel became the Bundesliga's youngest ever goal scorer shortly before the stroke of halftime.

On the balance, Bayern created twice as many chances as Stuttgart, registering six shots on frame to Stuttgart’s three, but were left to rue not making the most of them and really should’ve scored more than twice for all of the periods of dominance they had throughout the 90 minutes. Nagelsmann had to make rotations ahead of the visit of Barcelona next week in the Champions League, but arguably waited too late and perhaps got his second half changes wrong, inviting Stuttgart back into proceedings.

After the match, Thomas Müller cut a thoroughly frustrated figure and said that it’s the first result of the season that’s made him genuinely angry. “Today I’m angry for the first time this season. And on ourselves. If we want to win every game, and that’s our aspiration, then you have to go to the last. English week or not, highlight game during the week or not. With our current points situation, you have to go to the last ten minutes. That we let Stuttgart hit a ball into our penalty area again. Then it also has something to do with how much we are gallant and grippy. Today, for the first time, I have the feeling that we have given something away,” he vented (Tz).

With results like this, Müller feels that staying in or around the top of the Bundesliga will be a difficult task. There’s cause for concern there, too, as the English Weeks are only going to continue from now until the winter break for the World Cup in Qatar, so Bayern will have to be able to make the right adjustments when they need to - no if’s and’s or but’s. “I have to say: If we want to get to the top of the table as quickly as possible, and that is our ambition, then we have to look at our own noses. And all of us. We’re not top of the table yet,” the Raumdeuter stressed.

Bayern, and Joshua Kimmich in particular, had their blushes spared on two separate occasions, where possession was lazily conceded in and around their own box. Both situations led to Stuttgart goals that were ultimately ruled out for fouls on Kimmich, with the second having been a far more obvious foul on the midfielder. On the first, Kimmich was perhaps a bit lucky, but the fortuitous VAR calls have little to do with the outcome of the match in Müller’s view. He feels that there were other aspects of the match that made the ultimate difference. “It’s definitely a foul. In midfield, it’s definitely whistled immediately. You’ve never taken the ball with your back to your own goal, you’ve immediately whistled it away, right? I don’t have to defend the whistle that helped us. I have other things to worry about. It has nothing to do with whether we win or lose the game today. In the end, it doesn’t matter what the referee whistled or didn’t whistle,” he explained.

Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

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