Schalke04

Beautiful but flawed Bayern give Dortmund a chance to revive title race | Andy Brassell

14-Mar-2022 13:56:22 | The Guardian

An overcommitment to attack and a lack of organisation has led to the champions slipping up at a vital stage of the season

This could have been Tuesday night all over again. So much of Bayern Munich’s play dazzled a sold-out PreZero Arena, and the champions could easily have done to Hoffenheim what they had done to Red Bull Salzburg four days previously. Maybe the difference between the two games was just “a little bit of luck,” as Thomas Müller said it was.

There was certainly little sense of anguish or regret. Julian Nagelsmann may have the luxury of being able to look at the process knowing that the results will likely follow, but he was satisfied with his team’s performance. Bayern are playing way more fluently than they were even a few weeks ago. That they didn’t hand out a second successive thrashing to disoriented opponents was more down to fine margins, with three goals chalked off for offside, and the excellence of a very busy Oliver Baumann in Hoffenheim’s goal.