It’s the last week of club football before the international break and we’re here for it. Bayern Munich, in their last game before the break, faced Union Berlin at the Allianz Arena. Wearing the multicolored Oktoberfest uniforms, Bayern did their best to take on a team that knows exactly how to cause trouble. However, the match did not go as Union had planned: it was a truly Bavarian affair. Bayern won the match 7-0 with a hattrick from Michael Olise, a double from Harry Kane and a goal from Jamal Musiala and one from Ismael Saibari. Here are the observations from the victory. Warning: there are a lot of numbers coming. Every year, Union Berlin plays some type of low-block football that forces Bayern into unpleasant situations. Also this year, Unión tried to build a maximum security point in the center of the field. But unlike most years when the Bavarians struggled and suffocated in their pressure. This year was different. The centrally located block meant that virtually nothing could breathe through the center. It was meant to contain a high-value player like Kane and hoped to prevent any opportunity Bayern had to attack. Even with all the possession in the world, if it was simply recycled over and over again in one area, Bayern would ideally not score goals. Union hoped to simply take the ball from this setup when they had an attacking opportunity and move from there. Going up against Manuel Neuer is a mammoth task, but it was much easier than going head to head and playing attacking football against Bayern. In theory, this was the perfect maximum security prison, but does maximum security really exist? There could always be a… And that’s exactly what happened. Unión congested the center and forgot about the wings. That’s what happened. After the first games of this season, the performances of Luis Díaz and Michael Olise were highly questioned. They were operating in what was a partly unknown tactical environment; After all, Bayern were undergoing tactical reviews. Bayern saw their offensive performance drop and, although this did not bode well, it was assumed that over time the players would adapt and the numbers would rise again. To put into perspective how bad things got, the Colombia coach gave Lucho time off from international duty. However, the best solution to this was to simply go back to what works: let Musiala, Diaz and Olise run the show. Putting Jamal Musiala in the center of an overcrowded maximum security prison is asking for trouble. Union found out about that too late for his own good. Musiala does not operate in a fixed position, it moves on both the horizontal and vertical rails. And most importantly: the youngster thrives in small, tight spaces. As a result of his movements, if even one player left his position, that was space for him. You could impose a low block as much as you wanted and still can’t count for anomalies like Musiala. The numbers speak for him: he won 15 duels. The maximum between both teams. Likewise, both extremes are their own kind of problem. From Union’s perspective, letting the wings run over them wasn’t exactly their choice, but they had to see it anyway. Winning a 1v1 battle against Olise isn’t exactly the easiest task. Against Díaz? Good luck trying to defend him and Davies in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, Union Berlin created three dynamic problems, and since all of those problems were happening simultaneously, they had no way to fix it. And these players also think… The laws of the universe are optional. This team does not respect the laws of the universe. How else do you explain that Jamal Musiala scored a goal with a three percent probability? How else do we explain Harry Kane’s two goals? He had a total of 23 touches throughout the game and that did not prevent him from scoring a goal apart from a penalty. But the man of the moment is Michael Olise. Of a total of six shots, five hit the target and he scored three goals. Your xG was 1.11, and what do you get out of that? Three goals. The other numbers are just as incredible. 18 rushing duels, three tackles with a huge pass accuracy of 86%. Olise is in every way a statistical anomaly, who has declared mathematics useless. An interesting fact, which has nothing to do with the game itself, is that statistically, Olise is in the 90+ percentile in goals, shots attempted, touches and chance creation compared to all other attacking midfielders and wingers. And as for the team itself? The statistics certainly don’t say that Bayern have been lucky. Unión leads in all defensive numbers. In fact, the statistics say that Bayern chose their territory wisely and annihilated Union, creating multiple vital scoring opportunities and finishing it at an ungodly pace. 23 shots, of which 15 were on goal and seven converted into goals? The xG makes this incredible: it was just 3.77. Bayern were not expected to score more than 4. And the xGOT, which takes into account other factors such as shooting position, only returned a meager 3.54, even less than the xG. If it weren’t for Frederik Rønnow, who made six stops. The creation of chances in itself is not anomalous: it is the result of solid play with fantastic individual performances and is very typical of Bayern. It is the finish that no number could have anticipated. Union came with ideas that weren’t particularly wrong. A high press while sitting deep and defending the center is, frankly, in theory, the best option available. If all had gone well, they planned to win the ball back through pressing, transition and attack, before Bayern could react defensively. However, if the press is defeated, there is no contingency: all players have pre-assigned roles and if they go out, more space is created for the opponent to work. Musiala’s goal is a fantastic example: Bayern won the ball from the press, Davies came down the left and found Musiala on the edge of the area. One goal less? No problem, Unión will simply have to play a little more risky. But when the numbers continue to increase? One becomes two, two becomes three and now your defensive structure is in pieces. Union didn’t necessarily fall apart, but there’s only so much a team can do being 3+ goals down. Each choice had a compensation. And it was precisely their unlucky day that Bayern decided to put in a performance. This party, in all its forms, is an anomaly. What has been Bayern’s biggest victory against this team? 5-1. And they have had multiple managerial changes, preserving most of their tactical structure, but not all. Almost every year, Bayern faces the same low block, and not necessarily the high press, which is more of an addition of the current Union coach. So technically, as the game has become more difficult, so has Bayern. Bayern is a team made to press. And they proved it seven times tonight for 90 minutes straight. Register for a user account and get: New improved notification system! Fewer ads Create community posts Comment on articles and community posts Recording comments, community posts
