Six observations from Bayern Munich's 4-0 trouncing of Eintracht ...

Here are six observations from Bayern Munich’s comfortable 4-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt:

Clearer heads deliver a more complete performance

There was a lot of consternation over the team’s last two performances, which saw the Bavarians reduced to defending deep and praying they can keep the 0-0 draw against Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga before following it up with a performance that nearly saw Bayern eliminated from the Champions League before the Round of 16 even began, edging past Celtic with a last gasp equalizer in a 1-1 draw. Clearly, these two performances were well below Bavarian expectations and caused fans to doubt the level the team can reach.

But, in the team’s defense, those two matches came at the tail end of a brutal run of three games in six days, which included a plane ride to Glasgow, and their tiredness showed by making many silly mistakes, demonstrating exhausted minds and leggy performances. With five days to prepare for the Frankfurt game, there was no such excuse for Bayern and so this was the time to make their statement win. Standards at Bayern are high and the expectations are that performances can be better even when the team is tired. But it is good to re-confirm that head coach Vincent Kompany’s system does work when the team is not utterly exhausted.

Bayern wins a big match

Ever since Vincent Kompany arrived, the narrative has been that his Bayern team are flat track bullies and that the record in the big matches is really bad. To a certain extent, that can be true (the 4-1 loss to FC Barcelona and 0-0 draw against Bayer Leverkusen were particularly rancid) but when the definition of a big match becomes muddy (was the 1-1 draw against current 10th placed Borussia Dortmund a big match? How about the 5-1 win over the Cans where the opponents were in the top 4 but delivered a performance worthy of a relegation candidate? Was that a big match?) such a statement is a little too vague. Still, this was a match against an Eintracht Frankfurt side that has comfortably been the best team in the Bundesliga behind Leverkusen and Bayern. This was a proper big match and Bayern swatted them aside, 4-0. Good times.

We missed you, Thomas Müller

In the absence of Harry Kane from the starting lineup due to various knocks he has received over recent matches, it was finally Thomas Müller’s chance to shine. And...well, he was not perfect. His first touch in the match was a miscontrol that bobbled out of play and it would not be the only time his technique would let the rusty Bayern legend down today. But that has always been a part of Müller’s game. As is his impeccable movement, which took center stage today. Time and again, der Raumdeuter found spaces that Frankfurt’s defenders vacated, pulling them out of position and discombobulating them. He connected well with his teammates, creating several chances, but also notably displayed more of a striker’s touch that has previously not been a part of his game by taking the “selfish” option and going for the shot. Though his performance only lasted 60 minutes, it was one of the most notable ones today. However...

Thomas Müller should not start over Harry Kane (yet)

Müller excelled in creating more space and the team looked more dangerous than before with the Bayern legend in ahead of the English captain, sure. But one match is far too little of a sample size to make conclusions about dropping your top scorer, particularly when the last matches in 2024 proved how crucial the former Tottenham Hotspur striker is to the team. Still, it is nice to know Bayern finally found a way to be effective up front without Kane today.

Pavlović quietly dominates and takes over in Kimmich’s absence

When Joshua Kimmich went down just before half time and had to come off, there were serious short term concerns. The Germany captain has played every single available minute for Bayern and there was still a half to play against a dangerous Eintracht Frankfurt side, with the score still 0-0. How could Bayern overcome this loss? The answer, however, was simple. Aleksandar Pavlović just had to keep doing what he was going to. Even before Kimmich’s injury, the Bayern academy graduate was arguably outshining his senior counterpart and he just kept stepping up his game. He completed 108 passes, with a 96% completion rate, provided two key passes and dominated the center of the park by not allowing Frankfurt to get anything past him. Joshua Kimmich’s absence could be lengthy, depending on the results of his scan, and that will still be a blow to Bayern, but in Pavlović, they have a very worthy replacement. Who knows? Perhaps stepping into Kimmich’s shoes for a while will give the German international a chance to up his game even more.

Leroy Sané remains a whirlwind of chaos

Leroy Sané has made a habit of delighting and frustrating fans. And doing both a lot. There are few players who can combine his technical quality with his speed and those two qualities were on the forefront as he set up Bayern’s oh-so-crucial opener, bursting past the opposition and squaring a brilliant cross to Michael Olise, who just had to put the ball in the net. He also worked incredibly hard throughout the game, the most notable result of this being winning the ball and laying it off to Jamal Musiala before the latter’s brilliant solo goal. Another notable result of his hard work was winning the ball right in front of Frankfurt’s goal before, erm, blasting the ball wide with the goal gaping. Yes, Sané’s frustrating inefficiency in front of goal continued in this match. He did enough for Bayern to win the match and was a comfortable net positive for Bayern, but there remains the feeling that he can be so much better if his brain finally caught up to his feet.

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