Within a year and a bit Bayern Munich became one of the most successful teams in the history of football • In every factory she finished with raised hands, a total of six titles, but this season the load started to speak - especially in defense • Tonight against Lazio, when the Bundesliga begins to close, the European champions must recover
Bayern defense.
Has conceded 31 league goals this season
Photo:
AFP
The current Bayern Munich is officially one of the best and most successful teams in the history of the game.
With the victory in the Club World Cup about two weeks ago, the Bavarians completed the "SEXTUPLE" (winning six titles in one season) - an achievement that until then was registered only in the name of the Barcelona model.
What the Enzy Flick team did in 2020 and the first part of 2021 was rare, sublime and unusual, which is probably their big problem heading into the final straight of the season.
If the cliché holds that it is more difficult to stay at the summit than to reach it, how great is the difficulty facing one who has reached six peaks in one year?
As it seems, very large.
In fact, it is already known that Bayern will not be able to restore the achievement from last year, because a little over a month ago they were eliminated from the German Cup by Holstein Kill from the sub-league.
So true, the champion still leads the Bundesliga table, finishing first in the home leg of the Champions League and holding on to Robert Lewandowski on turbo mode, but it is quite clear that she is not in control of what she did last season.
In the last two league rounds the Bavarians have lost five points, with a 3-3 draw against Arminia Bielefeld and a 2-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt, and a gap of seven points has shrunk to just two.
With Lazio and Chiro Immobilia awaiting tonight in the last eight of the Champions League and the league is soon awaiting a meeting against Dortmund and Arling Holland, it seems that many difficulties await down the road.
Because beyond the honor, prestige and pride that the World Cup brought with it to clubs, he also added a load on the team.
Thomas Müller was diagnosed with a positive Doha for the corona virus and became the fourth player forced to retire and be absent.
Along with injuries from other players, the exhausted Bayern got even more tired and this is evident in their defensive game.
With the five goals the champion has conceded in the last two games, she has reached 31 assists in 22 rounds.
This is its worst balance sheet in the last 29 years, for comparison - last season it conceded only 32 goals.
reasons? There are quite a few
This can be attributed to injuries and the corona, but also to the decline in the ability of Alfonso Davis and Serge Gnabry, the instability of Leroy Sana, the fact that Thiago is no substitute, and the rebuilding that is taking place below the surface.
David Alaba has already announced that he will leave at the end of the season, the future of Jerome Boateng is unknown, and at the same time has already been signed for next season Dayo Ofmakno.
"We have to keep in mind that we're going through crazy days," Flick said this week, and that's a piece of understatement.
Well, that's how hard it is to defend six degrees.
There are injuries, loads, construction, falls, absorbs - but at Bayern it does not mean that the successes are over.
"We just need to be more focused and more committed," club chairman Carl Heinz Rummenigge said this week, lowering the pressure level.
In addition, Leon Gorecka and Xabi Martinez are returning to the squad tonight, everything is still under control, and even if the defense is not at its peak - Flick made it clear that Bayern are not a defensive team at all.
"Defending titles is a negative term for me," the coach explained in an interview with France Football.
"I want to win more and more regardless of what I won last season. We are not coming to defend the Champions League, we are coming to win."
