A matter of settings. This is what Bayern Munich lacked for thirty minutes to then surpass, without shining, the defensive block of Vfl Wolfsburg (2-0) on Sunday. Even if the plan decided by the former Bavarian house, Niko Kovac, seemed well in place at the start of the match, all of this was ultimately a simple illusion.
On a cross shot from Jamal Musiala (33rd) and a fox goal from the surfaces of Thomas Müller (44th), Bayern just took their time to unwind and show a collective mastery close to perfection just before the break.
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Julian Nagelsmann’s tactical readjustment on the half hour mark worked. The repositioning of Jamal Musiala a notch higher in the middle had an almost immediate effect on him. Faced with a collective too limited offensively to worry them, Sadio Mané’s partners then managed their lead with sobriety and passed a second test without a hitch in the Bundesliga.
Musiala en mode superstar
He was still unknown to the general public a little less than two years ago. He now bursts the screen in an already well supplied midfielder from Bayern Munich. At only 19 years old, Jamal Musiala is in line with Joshua Kimmich or Thomas Müller before him. His ability to regulate, create spaces through the pass or his speed or even to improve the Bavarian game already make him essential at the start of the season.
Author of a double once morest Eintracht Frankfurt, just eight days ago, it is moreover by him and almost as evidence that the opening of the score occurred. Manhandled by Wolfsburg on the implementation of their raises, the Munich, tenfold holders of the Bundesliga title, first stumbled on a high pressing.
After twenty minutes of slight doubt, the Kimmich-Musiala-Sabitzer trio then seized the fate of the meeting. And on a movement in the axis, Thomas Müller found the interval to launch Jamal Musiala at the entrance to the surface. The German international got rid of two players on his back to turn around in stride and follow up with a marvelous cross shot (33rd). Simply high class.
A Bayern without forcing or shaking
In the followingmath, Wolfsburg died out over the minutes. Unable to emerge or contain the offensives of Benjamin Pavard and Alphonso Davies, the Wolves all grouped together in their last twenty meters continued to mark time. On yet another center back from the Canadian for a shot from Joshua Kimmich and an instant recovery from Thomas Müller (44th) in the area, the mass was already said for Koen Casteels and his teammates.
As if stunned, the VfL defense might even have ended up with an even wider score to carry. The two offside goals from Sadio Mané (21st, 74th) and his misses (45th + 2, 70th) or even the header on the crossbar and the super-powerful shot from Benjamin Pavard (14th, 37th) were only the most glaring illustrations.
The domination was clear and clear in the game in favor of the Bavarians (24 shots attempted, 8 on target). They did not need to force their talent too much to subdue a Wolfsburg team that was too borrowed and lacking in offensive solutions, despite the entry of Max Kruse at the break.
On the defensive side, Manuel Neuer also took the opportunity to register his first “cleansheet” in the league since April 17. Anomaly now erased for Bayern Munich (1st, 6 pts) already alone at the top of the standings with Borussia Dortmund, his lifelong rival.
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