Die Folgen: Bayern’s amazing 4-3 comeback victory over Mainz 05 (Bavarian Football Works)Bayern Munich head coach Vincent Kompany had tough choices to make with his lineup ahead of facing Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga.
The manager knew he had the Champions League semifinal vs. Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday and was facing a depleted corps of young players, who would have normally received these minutes. Given that, Kompany patchworked together a lineup and did not even want to be tempted to use some regulars as he left a couple at home.
In the end, Kompany’s boys fell in a three-goal hole before….totally redeeming themselves with a ridiculous 4-3 victory. Let’s get down to it and give our thoughts on the match, here are some quick hitters on the game:
As always, let’s begin with a look at the starting XI:
🚨 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗙 🚨So starten wir gegen Mainz! 📋 pic.twitter.com/aH1dj8uEYW
The rotation was heavy with subs, but — as expected — there was not an influx of young players. Bara Sapoko Ndiaye did get the nod, which was cool to see, but there was never going to be any real intent other than to fill certain spots with starters because Kompany had to. It was clear that the focus (and rightly so) was on Paris Saint-Germain next week in the Champions League.
How serious was Kompany about resting some of his guys? The head coach did not even bring Joshua Kimmich or Dayot Upamecano on the trip.
Bayern Munich was fairly dominant early on, which is both crazy and impressive considering the typical ramp up to build some chemistry as a unit.
Mainz would take advantage of some of that lack of familiarity as a corner attempt created a scrum. Urbig failed to get enough on his punch to clear it, which led to the ball eventually falling to Kaishu Sano, who had a great touch and cross to Dominik Kohr (!?) who volleyed it in for a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute.
This sounds kind of bad to say, but it was hard to even fret that play. Mainz was playing to clinch staying up in the Bundesliga and Bayern Munich just was trying to fill out a lineup.
The goal ignited the confidence of Mainz who played much more authoritatively after that.
Urbig was getting tested steadily as he would end up seeing Mainz take 21 shots. Urbig would finish with five saves.
After Guerreiro lost a ball, Mainz erupted on a break where Nadiem Amiri was able to break free and rip a shot at Urbig, who punched the hard shot forward, only to see Paul Nebel scoop up the rebound and deposit it into the net. All of a sudden, Mainz was up 2-0 in the 29th minute.
Again, it is hard to get too concerned, but the backline of Konrad Laimer, Kim Min-jae, Hiroki Itō, and Alphonso Davies was sloppy at best in the first half. The midfield and attack were not much better, either.
It was safe to say that there was a lack of motivation and focus for Bayern Munich.
Ndiaye is probably not ready for prime time just yet, but there were positives in his performance. This was a massive step for him and it was great to see him turn in a solid showing, but he has some development to do. Either way, it was great to see him get the chance to prove his mettle.
Davies had a good look in the 40th minute, but could not get his attempt on frame.
Astoundingly (Ass-toundingly?), Mainz scored again. This time, Sano (who was terrific) sent a ball into Amiri, whose shot was initially saved by Urbig (it was a great stop, but it nicked the crossed, which caused it to have some insane backspin). The rebound spun aimlessly backward near the goal line only for Sheraldo Becker to poach the goal right before halftime.
This was one of the few times that we have seen a Bayern Munich squad under Vincent Kompany lack fire, motivation, focus, and direction. Again, it is hard to imagine anyone is flipping tables over this, given the lack of stakes, but it was not a great vibes-type game heading into such a key UCL fixture. So, Kompany sprung into action.
Just a sidenote: I could be wrong, but it sounded like Mainz was playing the A-Team theme right before the second half started. Did anyone else hear that?