Bayern Munich just finished their first trophyless season since 2012. They came third in the table of the German Bundesliga, reached the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League and were knocked out in the second round of the German Cup. By the very high standards of the Bavarian giants, it was a colossal failure overall. Yet, the season had several ups and downs along the way. Last Word on Football brings you the Bayern Munich season review.
Bayern Munich Season Review – A Historic Failure
Bundesliga
They finished the league season with 72 points, a total which would have generally been enough to win the title in recent years. There just happened to be two sides that were better this time around, namely the great surprise team VfB Stuttgart and the undefeated champions Bayer Leverkusen. The latter managed 90, which is remarkable given that there are only 102 points up for grabs in the 34-game season in Germany.
Read More: Top Five Bayern Munich All-Time Goal Scorers
Back to Bayern, they did score a league-wide record of 94 goals this season. But there were two main problems they had, one that record comes from the fact that they had a few blowout wins, and two they conceded more goals than any other team in the top-five of the Bundesliga with 45.
Not having many centre-backs to choose from in the first half of the campaign may be one explanation for that at the surface level. Even when Eric Dier did arrive in January, it took the now-former coach Thomas Tuchel some time to see that the Matthijs de Ligt-Dier partnership was the best he had in those positions. In any case, the problems largely began in the second half of the season anyway.
Bayern won 23 league matches overall, drew three and lost eight. Much like their defensive weakness, that defeats column would also not have been worthy of champions. When things were good for the team in league play, they were usually very good, but those periods of the season were few and often far between. As noted above, they enjoyed a much better first half of the campaign than the second, as they were just a single point behind Leverkusen halfway through the term, they finished 5th in the table of results since January alone.
They only lost one Bundesliga match in that first half, though that was a heavy defeat 5-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt. Seven losses came just after the New Year, which was almost as many as they won since then, (nine). That happened largely after the 3-0 loss to Leverkusen, which meant that the Bundesliga title was probably gone as the team’s focus shifted to Europe.
Champions League
This Bayern Munich season review would be much bleaker if it wasn’t for the team’s Champions League heroics. Though even most of those performances were not exactly perfect, there were breathtakingly exciting matches that proved that the quality and the team spirit were both still very much intact within the squad.
There was of course much left to be desired defensively on Matchday 1 against Manchester United at home, but the 4-3 victory was still a great spectacle for the fans. Then there was a nice come-from-behind 2-1 win at the Danish capital of Copenhagen. After that, two tight wins against Galatasaray followed. Having secured both progression to the next round, and first place in the group, they took it easy at home to Copenhagen, drawing 0-0. The Germans then finished group play with a 1-0 victory over United.
Read More: Bayern Munich Players Injured Throughout the Season
The Bavarians then suffered a 1-0 loss in the Round of 16 first leg away to Lazio, before rallying to defeat the Italian club 3-0 at home. In the quarterfinals, they achieved a 2-2 draw away to the then-EPL league leaders Arsenal in a hard-fought encounter, before defeating the Gunners 1-0 in Munich. The experiences from those two matches brought the side together and gave them the belief that they could still save their season.
Unfortunately, they then faced Real Madrid, arguably the most brutally efficient team in world football. In the opening leg at the Allianz Arena, Bayern were clearly the better team, but came away with only a 2-2 draw. In Madrid they gave Los Blancos a game, taking the lead in the 68th minute, before falling apart 2-1 at the bitter end.
German Cup and Final Thoughts
Their cup season began at third tier Preußen Münster in round 1. They won the match 4-0 without much fuss. In the second round, they took on 1. FC Saarbrücken, also from the Third Division.
The game took place on an almost unplayable pitch. Bayern took the early 1-0 lead but never fully settled in. They conceded the equalizer before halftime. In the second half, the Bundesliga giants tried to regain the lead, but the underdogs had parked the bus very effectively and they suddenly won the game 2-1 with their only chance of the half deep into added time. That was particularly unforgivable because Harry Kane spent the entire game resting on the bench.
As a result of that disaster, the Bayern Munich season review comes out all the more negative. On the other hand, 11 straight seasons with at least one title have caused the problems that have been brewing in and around the club to be swept under the rug. Perhaps now they will finally be addressed.
