In one of the last preseason tune-ups, two familiar foes faced off once again in Dortmund and Bayern Munich.
The game itself was quite entertaining. Bayern started out sluggish, but Manuel Neuer made two great saves to keep the sides even by the end of the first half. Bayern struggled last season at random points especially against teams with pace and getting a solid counter-attack. Dortmund was happy to let Bayern control possession, but by half time, Dortmund was the more dangerous side. Bayern turned the ball over in a dangerous area several times and a 0-0 score at half brought a sigh of relief.
Starting the second half, Dortmund got on the scoreboard with a gorgeous strike from Paco Alcacer in the 49th minute. There was nothing Neuer could do and Dortmund finally had the 1-0 lead they had been building towards.
As the game progressed, Bayern had a few good chances, but just could not convert. Instead, after assisting on the goal for Alcacer, Jadon Sancho got on the scoreboard himself with a goal in the 69th minute. Bayern was losing their composure and shortly after that Joshua Kimmich was issued a yellow for stepping on Jadon Sancho out of bounds, and the game would finish 2-0. Leroy Sane might be hopping in a plane now.
Manuel Neuer
It’s early, but Neuer looked solid on Saturday. The shot from Alcacer was an excellent shot, credit to the attacker. The 1-on-1 against Jadon Sancho is a situation seldom won by the keeper. Minus the head-scratcher in the 14th minute where he took his “sweeper-keeper” role a bit too seriously, Neuer had a good day.
With the new defenders in place for Bayern, Bayern fans expect a better year from the goalkeeper position in Munich. We might not get the Balon d’Or finalist version of Neuer, but if Bayern can get a shade of that, it bodes well for the club moving.
Depth
The lack of depth is a bit concerning for Bayern. Granted, neither Lucas Hernandez or Serge Gnabry played, and there are rumors of a big move for Leroy Sane, but still. Kingsley Coman has shown promise, but his career has been derailed several times by injuries. One injury to a key player, attacking especially, would be a significant development. Bayern will need to make some moves soon.
Overall, the Bavarian giants will be fine. A 2-0 loss in the preseason isn’t that big of a deal, but it did reveal some key areas for Bayern to focus on moving forward. Winning the Bundesliga is important, but more important still, is performing better in the Champions League than in the past few years. Mia San Mia.
