FC Bayern Munich had a successful dress rehearsal a few days before the duel in the Champions League with PSG. Coach Julian Nagelsmann’s team won 3-0 (1-0) against VfL Bochum.
The goals for the German record champions were scored by Thomas Müller (41st), Kingsley Coman (64th) and Serge Gnabry with a penalty kick (74th).
Before the kick-off, a huge banner could be seen in the south stand to commemorate 50 years of fan friendship between Bayern and Bochum. The VfL anthem “Bochum” by Herbert Grönemeyer played appropriately.
Nagelsmann commented again on Manuel Neuer before the game. Here’s the news.
FC Bayern Munich – VfL Bochum: The analysis
With Upamecano (toe injury) and Choupo-Moting (gastrointestinal) returning, Nagelsmann once again relied on a back three, just like they did when they advanced in the DFB Cup in Mainz. Cancelo moved to the left flank for Davies (bench), while Gnabry rotated into the front XI for Coman (bench) and took over the right wing. Goretzka gave the six due to Kimmich’s suspension.
The direction of the game was already clear after a few minutes: Bayern put Bochum under pressure with high pressure just behind the center line in order to force quick turnovers. That didn’t always work out, but resulted in a clear increase in chances. However, the degrees lacked the ultimate consequence for a long time.
After around 20 minutes, Bayern found it more difficult to combine into the last third in a controlled manner against the increasingly courageous guests. This was also due to the fact that the ball was rarely shifted to the wings and the game was played too close to the centre. Meanwhile, Bochum put the FCB defence, which formed into a back four against the ball with Pavard on the right side, under pressure from time to time – even if the really big opportunities didn’t materialize.
Shortly before the break, Müller, who drove his team enormously and could often be found up front alongside Choupo-Moting, broke the spell after a sloppy back pass from Bochum’s Janko (41′). Goretzka should have made it 2-0 (44′).
The goal scorer probably stayed in the dressing room with a view of the CL cracker. He was replaced by left-back Davies, which is why Cancelo went to the right and Bayern played in a 4-1-4-1 system with a clear back four. That changed again when Coman came on (59th for Cancelo), who increased it to 2-0 a little later (64th).
Nagelsmann subsequently took further protective measures and, among other things, brought blind. Gnabry set the final point from the point (74th), Bochum’s goalkeeper Riemann prevented a higher victory.
FC Bayern Munich – VfL Bochum: The line-ups
FC Bayern Munich: Summer – Pavard, Upamecano, de Ligt – Gnabry, Goretzka, Cancelo (58th Coman) – Müller (46th Davies), Musiala (67th Blind), Sané (77th Ibrahimovic) – Choupo-Moting (67th Tel)
VfL Bochum: Riemann – Janko, Ordets, Masovic, Stafylidis – Losilla, Kunde (Osterhage 85), Zoller (Asano 68), P. Förster (Stöger 46), Antwi-Adjei (Holtmann 68) – P. Hofmann (68. Ganvoula)
FC Bayern Munich – VfL Bochum: The data for the game
For Bayern, it was the first home win since the turn of the year.
With just three points away from home (1-0 in Augsburg), VfL Bochum remains the Bundesliga’s weakest away team.
The star of the game: Thomas Müller (FC Bayern)
By far the best offensive player in Munich! Extremely active, loud as usual and always had his feet in the game when things got dangerous up front. His high running workload was rewarded after a good 41 minutes when he put Bochum’s play structure under pressure in a full sprint and a back pass to goalkeeper Riemann fell short. Müller didn’t let his nose down and he scored the important 1-0. It was already going down at half-time, but a starting line-up without him is hardly conceivable in Paris.
The flop of the game: Saidy Janko (VfL Bochum)
Played the catastrophic bad pass in the direction of keeper Manuel Riemann, who invited Müller to take the lead and did not perform well beyond that. Lost many duels and was noticeably overwhelmed with the Munich pace. So also in the 73rd minute, when he couldn’t keep up with Gnabry and caused a penalty. Philipp Förster didn’t have a good day either. He had only ten ball contacts before the break whistle, the offensive player remained without a finish and won a duel. Accordingly, his working day was over after 45 minutes.
The referee: Matthias Jöllenbeck
Had no problems whatsoever with the consistently fair game. The only yellow card in the first 45 minutes was for Nagelsmann, who complained loudly after Bochum took a legitimate free-kick. Also right to decide on a penalty after a foul on Gnabry (73).
