Union Berlin - FC Bayern Munich 1: 1: Weak FCB offensive desperate for Union bulwark

On the 5th day of the Bundesliga season, FC Bayern Munich lost its lead in the table with a 1-1 (1-1) draw at Union Berlin. Joshua Kimmich was only able to equalize Sheraldo Becker’s opening goal for Bayern at the Alte Försterei.

Bayern notes: Two total failures – only one real ray of hope

1/16

FC Bayern is playing 1-1 in the Bundesliga for the second time in a row and sometimes makes coach Julian Nagelsmann despair. At Union Berlin, one or the other FCB professional has problems. Only a newcomer can really convince. The notes.

2/16

MANUEL NEUER: Didn’t have too much to do, but his action in the 75th minute, when he parried the ball against Leweling in the short corner with a monster reflex, improved the grade in the long term. Grade: 2.

3/16

BENJAMIN PAVARD: Had a big part in the game because Bayern mainly played on his right side. At 40.3 percent, the share in the attack third was highest. Ryerson worked it up properly, but Pavard held back. Note 3.

4/16

DAYOT UPAMECANO: conceded the free-kick before the 0:1 but actually it wasn’t really a foul so exonerated. Rarely showed the bold passes he was famous for, but was mostly present. Note 3.

5/16

MATTHIJS DE LIGT: Good play by the centre-back. Defensively very robust and always ready to counter Union’s hardness. His body language matched too. The only drawback: Could fit even braver: Grade 2.

6/16

ALPHONSO DAVIES: It wasn’t his game. Many easy ball losses, also because he lacked the timing. In the second half with one or the other good offensive action, but overall not enough. Grade: 4.5.

7/16

JOSHUA KIMMICH: Met the aggressiveness of the Union with the same means. Fiddled the opponents also the opinion. His goal, almost impossible from the angle, came at an important stage. Preloaded with yellow out (62nd). Grade: 2.5.

8/16

MARCEL SABITZER: Hardworking as always this season, helped to build up from his own half and gave Kimmich the space so he could go forward. Also aggressive in a duel, especially in the air. Grade: 2.5.

9/16

KINGSLEY COMAN: Had a very strong opponent in Ryerson, and from time to time Trimmel also came over for fun. Coman had a lot of good ideas to break through with dribbling, but overall not very effective. grade: 4

10/16

JAMAL MUSIALA: Back in the starting XI after injury, but it was his weakest performance of the season so far. Has so much talent that he did well in a game like this. But just not enough. grade: 4

11/16

LEROY SANE: Had the 2-1 on his foot twice, but failed both times and was a bit unlucky. He wasn’t intimidated by his opponent’s gait and looked for duels. Therefore still: Grade: 3.5.

12/16

SADIO MANE: The striker seemed unable to cope with Union’s aggressive approach and endured a wasted afternoon. Before the 0:1, he simply let Becker go and was responsible for the goal. Hardly any danger at the front. grade: 5

13/16

RYAN GRAVENBERCH: Came into the game in the 62nd minute for Joshua Kimmich, who had a yellow card, and immediately picked up a yellow card for a harder foul. But maybe that was necessary in a game like this. Grade: 3.5.

14/16

THOMAS MÜLLER: Stayed out because of the “rotation” (Julian Nagelsmann), then came for the pale Jamal Musiala, but couldn’t set any more accents either. Remained without a shot on goal. grade: 4

15/16

SERGE GNABRY: Came in for Kingsley Coman in the 73rd minute and brought a lot of mood but little luck. Was noticed with ball losses in one or the other promising offensive action. No rating.

16/16

LEON GORETZKA: He still got five minutes for his first Bundesliga appearance this season. No rating.

Union Berlin – Bayern Munich: The analysis

At FC Bayern Munich, Jamal Musiala was allowed to play again from the start after surviving a few aches and pains, but Thomas Müller was initially on the bench for the first time this Bundesliga season. “We have six or seven players in the top four positions who train and play equally,” said coach Julian Nagelsmann before the start of the game sky.

Perhaps it was also due to Müller’s absence that striker Sadio Mané hardly found his way into the game.

Mané was completely up in the air offensively, was very rarely on the ball and at times even dropped behind defensive midfielder Joshua Kimmich. To make matters worse, the new signing from Liverpool FC showed what he can’t do in the 12th minute: namely defending.

When trying to take a rather dubious free kick from Union Berlin and run off Sheraldo Becker, Mané was more likely to prevent his own teammate Kingsley Coman from defending than Becker from getting to the ball. The national player from Suriname reached Christopher Trimmel’s assist and scored to make it 1-0.

Bayern’s response followed promptly. Corner Kimmich, the ball came through Matthijs de Ligt to Jamal Musiala, but his shot was blocked. The rebound landed again at Kimmich, whose full diagonal shot passed six Union players in the goal.

The 1:1 required patience again. And if you want to give Bayern one credit, it’s that they remained patient in building up the game against the diligently and prudently defending Berliners.

Last season, the record champions mostly lapsed into actionism against low-lying opponents, now Marcel Sabitzer, Joshua Kimmich and also de Ligt, who played strongly again, patiently built up – even as a union between the 28th and 33rd minute FC Bayern die first really weak five minutes of the season.

When they were over, Leroy Sané twice missed the opening goal for Munich.

Union continued to defend cautiously, but in the second half, which was weaker overall for both teams, initially hardly came close to the goal. After about an hour, Union coach Urs Fischer replaced the goal scorer and his neighbor Behrens, much to Becker’s annoyance. Nagelsmann also changed the scorer. Ryan Gravenberch replaced Kimmich, and Müller also replaced Jamal Musiala, who tried hard but was quite ineffective this time. But Union still had the greatest chance of the second half: Jamie Leweling nibbled at Upamecano in a full sprint, but then failed at Neuer.

Union Berlin – FC Bayern: The voices of the game

Urs Fischer (Coach Union Berlin): “The team played a great game and didn’t deserve a point. Bayern were certainly closer to victory. We never became passive, we always tried to work against the ball. The chains worked very, very well together.”

Julian Nagelsmann (Bayern Munich coach): “As for the result, it’s okay. It’s not undeserved for either team, we have to settle for the 1-1 draw. Overall, the energy levels weren’t what we’ve had so far.”

Union Berlin – Bayern Munich: The lineups

1. FC Union Berlin: Frederik Rønnow – Doekhi, Jaeckel, Knoche – Ryerson (80th Gießelmann), Thorsby, Rani Khedira, Schäfer, Trimmel – Becker (62nd Leweling), Behrens (62nd Michels).

Bayern Munich: Neuer – Pavard, Upamecano, de Ligt, Davies – Kimmich (62nd), Sabitzer – Coman (73rd Gnabry), Musiala (62nd Müller), Sané – Mané.

Union Berlin – FC Bayern Munich: The data of the game

Gates: 1: 0 Becker (12th), 1: 1 Kimmich (15th).

The star of the game: Christopher Trimmel (Union Berlin)

Union’s right rail player won his private duel against Alphonso Davies by far. Was a constant asset and a source of trouble, prepared the 1-0 with his free kick and prevented Bayern from scoring a few times.

The flop of the match: Sadio Mané (Bayern Munich)

The striker seemed unable to cope with Union’s aggressive approach and endured a wasted afternoon. Before the 0:1, he simply let Becker go and was responsible for the goal. Hardly any danger at the front.

The referee: Frank Willenborg

Shouldn’t have given the free kick that led to Union Berlin’s 1-0 through Sheraldo Becker. András Schäfer fell into Dayot Upamecano more than he fouled him. But since the game was very intense and sometimes pitched, but mostly fair, he was right with his unobtrusive game management.