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Defeated four times: Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer
Photo:
WOLFGANG RATTAY / REUTERS
Bayern Munich lost a football game for the first time in 295 days.
What Barcelona, Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain did not succeed, TSG Hoffenheim did.
The victory was not even close, more than that, the 1: 4 flattered the Munich team.
Anyone who follows the Bundesliga is now wondering how that actually happened.
It was the Hoffenheim path that led TSG to victory.
And that of trainer Sebastian Hoeneß.
But: The Bundesliga may still be able to learn a few things as soon as its own game against Bayern is due.
Perhaps the record champions won't always win, but only on three out of four match days.
That would be something.
Here are the insights from the Hoffenheim game:
1. Catch Bayern when they are tired or after they have won a title!
Preferably both.
The bad news: Exactly, it's not in the opponent's hands.
The fact that Munich won the Supercup three days before Hoffenheim and subsequently spared Robert Lewandowski and Leon Goretzka explains this defeat.
The Bavarians didn't look very fresh.
This is less true of endurance than of the head.
Benjamin Pavard's dropout before the 0: 2, Joshua Kimmich's before a great chance from Munas Dabbur in the 51st minute - Bayern professionals usually don't make such mistakes.
In order to defeat an opponent who has better players and good tactics, a lot has to come together.
But that shouldn't diminish Hoffenheim's performance.
Explaining the 1: 4 with Lewandowski's absence in the starting line-up was about too short.
After all, Bayern's problem was not converting the chances, but rather that the team didn't create enough chances - and allowed a surprising number of them.
How to do that, read here:
2. Bet on long balls!
But do it with a plan!
Long balls?
Isn't that what Bayern want to provoke with their high run-up?
Yes, it is.
Hoffenheim did not practice any ill-conceived liberation strikes, which then land with Munich defenders.
The TSG attacks were coordinated.
In the first phase, goalkeeper Oliver Baumann often played the ball briefly to a teammate in the penalty area.
This was a signal to the pressing Bavarians to attack.
As if it was just a TSG lure, the pass came back to Baumann - and then the long ball. Baumann hit 31 long balls in total, according to Whoscored.com.
All TSG field players made a total of 216 passes.
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Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann
Photo: Markus Ulmer / imago images / ULMER Pressebildagentur
What was decisive, however, was what followed.
Two Hoffenheim attackers positioned themselves very broadly near the sideline.
The third was often not with Bayern's central defenders, but a little offset towards midfield.
This had two effects: the broad positioning straightened Bavaria's defense chain, and large interfaces emerged.
And because the central players were reluctant to leave their positions, situations arose in which the central Hoffenheim striker could sprint towards them with a faster pace.
Or better: past them into the depths.
Provided that the Hoffenheim team got the long ball under control before.
A second variant consisted of lengthening the long Baumann ball directly downwards with a header.
Coordinated routes were also crucial here.
Almost always a formative means: tearing open gaps between the four defenders.
This succeeded because David Alaba often wanted to be close to his left-back Alphonso Davies, but the two remaining Bayern defenders did not follow suit.
It rarely happened that Hoffenheim combined flat forward.
The team didn't get involved in Bayern's pressing and that was a key to victory.
3. Run a lot!
But above all, run smart!
Hoffenheim coach Hoeneß let his team defend in a 5-3-2 formation.
Theoretically, it offers advantages especially defensively: Outnumbering in the center of the defense with simultaneous coverage of the width by the fifth defender.
In front of that are three central midfielders.
This defensive wall is difficult to overcome on paper;
In practice, however, the Bavarians have regularly managed to do so.
After all, Hoeneß is not the first coach who tried to get at the Munich team.
That it succeeded this time was due to the many details that TSG did very well.
Especially the three midfielders, Dennis Geiger, Diadié Samassékou and Christoph
Baumgartner, played strong.
Geiger and Baumgartner went a long way in pressing by leaving their positions and approaching Bayern, Samassékou intelligently secured that.
The trio often made the right decision when it came to whether an opponent should be closely covered or the space should be secured.
And the entire Hoffenheim team was flexible.
Baumgartner, for example, started in half right midfield, later he suddenly found himself as a left full-back - he had first changed sides and then took over a free opponent because the situation had made it necessary.
However: Bayern's change of position, one of the defining tactical features under coach Hansi Flick, was also less pronounced this time.
For TSG, this made the task a little more solvable.
4. Train standards!
A lot of!
For real!
To have taken the lead was a plus for Hoffenheim, from now on Bayern had to play a little more offensively.
And the 1-0 resulted from a corner kick variant.
The TSG players flooded the Bavarian five-meter space and then brought the ball sharply into it - with a twist towards the goal.
It was hardly possible for Manuel Neuer to leave his goal and fist the ball away.
And even the head off was suddenly dangerous: not getting the ball optimally could easily have resulted in an own goal.
But then Ermin Bicakcic got the goal.
In general, this second Bundesliga matchday showed that many teams apparently spent some time practicing standards.
Eleven of the 27 hits resulted from dormant balls, which is quite a high number.
In a season that started late and is growing to be very long due to the pandemic, perfecting the least stressful situations in football is not a bad idea.
5. Make full use of your exchange contingent!
A basic problem for almost all Bayern opponents: They hardly have the ball. So they have to constantly move what exhausts sooner or later, the legs and the head.
The long distances that Hoffenheims Achter, Geiger and Baumgartner had to walk again and again would probably not have lasted for over 90 minutes.
They didn't have to either.
Both were replaced after about an hour.
Even in attack, the fresh substitute Ihlas Bebou made it possible to hurt the Bayern defenders with deep runs in the closing stages.
Bebou prepared two goals and thus had a greater influence on the game than all Bayern substitutes.
But enough has already been written about their mini-squad.
Bonus: set up Samassékou!
In addition to the obvious key players against Bayern, Andrej Kramaric with his two goals, or Munas Dabbur with his dream goal to make it 2-0, Diadié Samassékou was the secret TSG hero.
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TSG midfielder Diadié Samassékou, Bayern star Leroy Sané: where to put the ball?
Photo: Markus Ulmer / imago images / ULMER Pressebildagentur
Samassékou, 24, at home in the central midfield, managed four direct ball conquests (top score of the game) and intercepted five balls (top score of the game).
And once he won the ball, he played it forward promptly and precisely.
This is usually a sure sign that someone has mentally penetrated the game: In the manner of the very best midfielders, Samassékou seems to have a kind of map in his mind's eye even in hectic situations, which when asked "Where to put the ball?" "
lets you choose the best possible option.
Granted, following this point could be tricky for most clubs.
But nobody said that it was easy to beat Bayern.
Icon: The mirror
