Being a Bundesliga fan can sometimes involve hefty contradictions from one domestic weekend to the next European club midweek.
If you’re not a Bayern Munich follower, then you tend to regularly bemoan the success of Germany’s Rekordmeister and invoke concepts such as Bayern-Dusel (Bayern luck) and the inevitable Bayern-Bonus (alleged preferential treatment from referees). Then of course, there is an outpouring of Schadenfreude on the few occasions when the Munich giants actually do badly on the pitch.
Frequently, however, on European nights, those who wished Bayern considerable ill just a few days prior are cast in the role of their unlikely defenders. It’s difficult not to take this stance when snide comments about the supposed weakness of the Bundesliga are made by international pundits who frankly should know a lot better.
How on earth are Bayern meant to keep themselves sharp for the UEFA Champions League when they’re playing teams like Freiburg, for goodness sake?
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Freiburg, for the record, are very competent and, like Bayern, auf drei Hochzeiten tanzen (literally dancing at three weddings), an expression used to describe a team still competing in three different competitions. In the case of Freiburg, it’s the UEFA Europa League, the league, and the DFB-Pokal.
Last Saturday, they gave their Bavarian guests an almighty examination. Freiburg, who pressed and battled intelligently throughout, were 2-0 in front with nine minutes of normal time left, but Bayern eventually began taking bites into the lead. Two goals, one with either foot, from the talented Tom Bischof, saw the match level by the beginning of stoppage time.
I posed the question in the live world feed commentary regarding whether Bayern could actually go on and win the game now.
With 99 minutes on the clock and the match about to conclude, Bayern produced an aesthetically pleasing move. It started with a beautiful butter-soft diagonal pass from Joshua Kimmich to substitute Alphonso Davies on the left. The Canadian fed it across for 18 year-old Lennart Karl to finish off from close range.
Cue absolute bedlam in the nearby Gästeblock (away section). It was more than Bayern’s most dramatic winning goal of a spectacular season. This will go down as the club’s 100th Bundesliga goal of the campaign, only the third time they or any team in the Oberhaus has scaled such impressive scoring heights.
It is to be expected that on Saturday at the Millerntor in Hamburg against St. Pauli, Bayern will set a brand new record for bulging the net in a single Bundesliga season. Two more goals and they’ll have surpassed the great 1971-72 team that featured the legendary Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller, Sepp Maier and Uli Hoeneß.
Those of us who live and breathe Germany every week, hopefully know what we’re watching and I’ve said it often this term and will happily repeat it here: I believe this is a special incarnation of Bayern. The goal numbers alone, of course, tell you that. They’re doing what no German side has done before.
However, the eye test reveals a style of play that is among the finest many of us have ever been lucky enough to witness. Credit to Vincent Kompany and to the Bayern decision makers who believed in the Belgian when others saw an idealistic eighth- or ninth-choice candidate who had relegated Burnley in England.
It does seem though, that only the Champions League will be the Maßstab (yardstick) for those who lazily disparage the Bundesliga. On Tuesday, it was remarkable how refreshing Bayern seemed to people who clearly don’t watch the German domestic game, preferring to focus on the Premier League. Perhaps that’s also an indictment of what they’ve been served up in England and it’s not my place or intention to critique the sport from there in this space.
But this is a long way of saying, maybe this edition of Bayern is simply very good. They still have work to do against Real Madrid, but would anyone of fair mind argue they’re not well placed to be crowned European club champions and to do it in style?
Funnily enough, most regular Bayern watchers would tell you the weakest link has been the man richly praised on Tuesday: 40-year-old Manuel Neuer. His greatness is undeniable and Neuer will be remembered as a truly revolutionary goalkeeper for his modern interpretation of the position, but more mistakes are creeping in, and we have seen them in each of his past two competitive games.
In terms of the outfield players, I genuinely see no suspect areas. I often hear colleagues who dip in and out highlight Dayot Upamecano’s shortcomings, and I suppose his comportment on the Real Madrid goal will be grist to their mill. The fact remains, I can’t recall a raft of wobbles from the Frenchman this season.
We can go player by player — from Jonathan Tah at the back to Konrad Laimer and his versatility, to Kimmich’s thoroughness and the explosive qualities in attack of Michael Olise, Karl, Harry Kane, Serge Gnabry and Jamal Musiala.
It really doesn’t matter what Kompany’s constellation is on any particular day. Bayern are a force to be reckoned with — domestically and in Europe.
