Saturday evening saw Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig play out an enthralling ninety minutes of football that ultimately ended with both sides claiming a point in Saxony. However, while Bayern would show courage and determination to claw the game back in the second-half, their first-half performance left much to be desired.
After the game, Joshua Kimmich criticsized Bayern’s defending that led to Leipzig’s two goals: “It annoys me how we concede goals. We concede goals after a throw-in and after a corner. That’s what annoys me. It was the same in the Supercup that Leipzig scored goals against us through standard situations, penalties, corners, free kicks and so on again and again come into play. We were far too stupid.”
With Manuel Neuer still sidelined through injury, it would be backup goalkeeper Sven Ulreich who was at fault for the second goal. The 35-year-old misread the flight of the ball and found himself flapping underneath, allowing Castello Lukeba to tap into an empty net.
Nevertheless, with minutes left on the clock, Ulreich would redeem himself by rushing off his line and preventing Benjamin Šeško from stealing all three points. A refinement in decision making and execution reflected the improvement in the second-half from Die Rekordmeister, and Kimmich would note how they came out from the interval a different side:
“You noticed that we wanted to come out and turn the game around. After the 2-2 score, you noticed that we wanted to go to the third. It’s difficult to explain at the moment that we’re playing a first-half like that again. It’s stupid how we concede goals. However, before the game it didn’t feel like we could lose control in the game. In the second We showed at half time that we are capable of dominating Leipzig.”
However, ultimately, while Bayern will be content with a point considering the perilous situation they faced at half time, they will now be hunting down top spot in the Bundesliga. With fixtures against Freiburg, Mainz and Darmstadt separating their anticipated clash with Borussia Dortmund on matchday ten, Die Rekordmeister will be hoping to return to pole position as they look to reclaim the Meisterschale.
GGFN | Will Shopland
