{"id":69352,"date":"2022-09-08T02:14:08","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T02:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/four-observations-from-bayern-munichs-classy-2-0-champions-league-win-over-inter-milan\/"},"modified":"2022-09-08T02:14:08","modified_gmt":"2022-09-08T02:14:08","slug":"four-observations-from-bayern-munichs-classy-2-0-champions-league-win-over-inter-milan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/four-observations-from-bayern-munichs-classy-2-0-champions-league-win-over-inter-milan\/","title":{"rendered":"Four observations from Bayern Munich’s classy 2-0 Champions League win over Inter Milan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Bayern Munich comfortably dispatched Inter Milan to book an important three points in the Champions League through two magical goal-creating movements from Leroy San\u00e9. Inter are not among Europe’s present titans, but nonetheless posed an important challenge to the Bavarians, one which they passed comprehensively. <\/p>\n

Bayern might’ve taken even more from this one \u2014 but there are plenty of positives to take from today’s proceedings.<\/p>\n

Thomas Muller unleashed<\/strong><\/h2>\n

shot. shot. shot<\/em>. The Imperious Bavarian Raumdeuter<\/em> put impressive new Inter keeper Andr\u00e9 Onana to the test early and often. Three first-half looks, all from the center of the box, required desperate interventions. It was as if Bayern’s gameplan were designed to place him exactly in that position at exactly the right times, either to get a shot off or make that decisive key pass.<\/p>\n

This is perhaps the most convincing M\u00fcller has looked within head coach Julian Nagelsmann’s 4-2-3-1 \u2014 the alternate, more wing-focused look to the 4-2-2-2 that has instead M\u00fcller pulling the strings from the right wing and Serge Gnabry up top. <\/p>\n

Of course, there’s also his immense experience and leadership on the pitch. M\u00fcller was engaged in animated discussions during a late first-half injury break with the entire rest of the front four: gesturing at goal-scorer Leroy San\u00e9 and Kingsley Coman, as if to point out where they might make more threatening actions. Sadio Man\u00e9 ended up with his arm around M\u00fcller’s shoulder, as if to calm him and turn down the Radio M\u00fcller dial just a notch.<\/p>\n

Leadership, intensity, intelligence \u2014 as M\u00fcller goes, often so too does Bayern. That’s why he’s so critical to the team, and he showed it once again today.<\/p>\n

Midfield variety on display<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It was a new role and side of the pitch for Marcel Sabitzer today. He’d primarily been deployed on the left, from where he could drop down and cover for Alphonso Davies’ forward ventures, as against VfL Wolfsburg. Against Union Berlin last weekend, Sabitzer served as the primary outlet in front of the center-backs \u2014 Joshua Kimmich’s usual role.<\/p>\n

Today, Kimmich was back in his customary spot, and Sabitzer was the one to venture further forward \u2014 and on the right instead. as much as it was to place more defensive responsibilities in Kimmich’s hands \u2014 while still leaving him in a possession to playmake; see the second goal \u2014 it was perhaps also meant to bring out Sabitzer’s offensive qualities.<\/p>\n

With Coman on the wing and M\u00fcller lurking in the box, Sabitzer pushed high in the half-spaces into attacking midfield areas, and sometimes fanned out to the wing. It helped Bayern’s build-up combinations on the right side of the field, leaving San\u00e9 and Davies isolated on the left. And Sabitzer found nice angles for long shots as well \u2014 arriving late in the box to hit a ricochet in the 37th minute, for example, that went narrowly wide of the mark.<\/p>\n

Leon Goretzka is back fit now, getting an extended run in the second half. He does n’t look his sharpest yet, but undoubtedly that time is coming soon. When it does, he’ll add another change-up to the toolbox for Nagelsmann. Will Bayern settle into stable patterns, or let the matchup demands dictate their plans in central midfield?<\/p>\n

Individual defensive actions kept the clean sheet<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Inter showed more than a little quality going forward, and were consistently Bayern’s biggest test of the year. Especially with Bayern often on the front foot, it was down to individual quality and concentration in moments of transition, and Bayern’s defense supplied it with cut-outs or crucial tackles. <\/p>\n

Sure, Inter weren’t the most precise, and couldn’t even capitalize on Lucas Hern\u00e1ndez’s gift of a ball in the 83rd minute, but the defenders still had to be up to the task. And in the main, they were.<\/p>\n

When the center-backs stepped forward \u2014 risky moves! \u2014 they usually got it right; Matthijs de Ligt’s yellow card tackle the notable exception. For the most part, Bayern won the ball back before things got too harried, and were rewarded for their composure with excellent transition chances for themselves.<\/p>\n

There were structural vulnerabilities, however. With Davies pushing and staying high and without Sabitzer there to drop into coverage, Inter found joy down their right flank, releasing Denzel Dumfries into space on several occasions. For all the passing quality they displayed to carve out these chances, though, the Nerazzurri touch seemed to vanish by the final act. A better wing threat down the right might have punished Bayern, and especially in moments with the scoreline 1-0, it seemed like a senseless risk.<\/p>\n

front foot mentality<\/strong><\/h2>\n

By half-time, Inter had 1 out of 5 shots on target, and Bayern had 9 of 14. As usual, they could<\/em> conceivably have been even sharper and more clinical, but this was the right energy. After a tired, almost lackluster display against Union Berlin, this was the Bayern intensity we are used to seeing. Inter were pressed off the park from minute one, Bayern grabbed and maintained a lead through that always seemed coming, and finished goals off the game with cool, tidy, effective management.<\/p>\n

This is where it’s almost pointless to pit individual player qualities against one another. Yes, only XI can get selected to start each game, and we might all have our individual favorites as fans, but a performance like this reflects the total mood of the locker room. Everyone has to get ready to turn it on at the same moment, to think and operate like a team. <\/p>\n

There’s plenty more player-directed praise to be had from this game \u2014 and we’ll get to those in the Match Awards! \u2014 but the overall atmosphere is one of comprehensive team effort.<\/p>\n

If there were any doubts after two stumbles in the league, Bayern showed they’ve got the stuff of which champions are made. Bring on FC Barcelona.<\/p>\n

\n

Interested in more analysis of the game? Why not check out our postgame podcast? Listen to it below or at this link.<\/p>\n

As always, we appreciate all the support!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bayern Munich comfortably dispatched Inter Milan to book an important three points in the Champions League through two magical goal-creating movements from Leroy San\u00e9. Inter are not among Europe’s present titans, but nonetheless posed an important challenge to the Bavarians, one which they passed comprehensively. Bayern might’ve taken even more from this one \u2014 but …<\/p>\n

Four observations from Bayern Munich’s classy 2-0 Champions League win over Inter Milan<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56321,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ucl-draw-robert-lewandowski-barcelona-to-meet-bayern-munich-in-group-stage-erling-haaland-returns-to-face-dortmund\/","url_meta":{"origin":69352,"position":0},"title":"UCL draw – Robert Lewandowski, Barcelona to meet Bayern Munich in group stage; Erling Haaland returns to face Dortmund","date":"August 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Barcelona have been drawn against Bayern Munich in the group stages of the 2022-23 Champions League, which sees Robert Lewandowski facing an early return to his former club while Manchester City's Erling Haaland will reunite with his ex-club, Borussia Dortmund.Lewandowski ended his eight-year spell at Bayern acrimoniously in July to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19866,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/robert-lewandowski-completes-barcelona-move-from-bayern-munich\/","url_meta":{"origin":69352,"position":1},"title":"Robert Lewandowski completes Barcelona move from Bayern Munich","date":"July 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"6:27 PM ETAlex KirklandMoises LlorensBarcelona have announced the signing of Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich, becoming the LaLiga club's fifth arrival this summer.Bayern president Herbert Hainer confirmed on Saturday the clubs had reached a verbal agreement for the transfer of the 33-year-old striker, but the move has now been completed.-\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55769,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/when-is-the-champions-league-draw-and-who-can-barcelona-face\/","url_meta":{"origin":69352,"position":2},"title":"When is the Champions League draw and who can Barcelona face?","date":"August 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The draw for the 2022-23 Champions League draw takes place this week and will once again provide plenty of intrigue as Europe's top teams discover their opponents for the group stages. 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