Bayern Munich Are Officially A Bundesliga Monopoly
Bayern Munich started their 2022/23 Fifa World Club Championship campaign with a convincing win against Eintracht Frankfurt 6-1 at the sold-out Deutsche Bank Arena. But while Bayern started off to an impressive start, the Bundesliga is still challenged with its competitiveness.
By the end of the first half, Bayern Munich was dominating. Joshua Kimmich opened the scoring in the 5th minute, according to data collected by Amazon Web Services.
The goal set the scene for a rout. Benjamin Pavard (11’), Sadio Mané (29’), Jamal Musiala (35’), and Serge Gnabry (43’) added to Bayern’s 5-0 halftime lead. The second half was meaningless, allowing head coach Julian Nagelsmann to debut highly touted talent Mathys Tel for the game’s final minutes.
Despite a promising start, the game quickly derailed. Frankfurt’s first goal by new signing Randal Kolo Muani (64′) was under the radar.
“We had an incredible game against Manchester United , with very similar patterns as the Leipzig encounter,” Nagelsmann said after the victory. “The guys are happy and winning is far from routine, it’s always something special even if you win a lot.”
Bayern Munich also wound up beating Leipzig 3-2 after dominating the first 45 minutes in the DFL Super Cup yesterday. Nearly a comeback in the final five minutes saw the goal complete and Leipzig coming within one.
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The Leipzig Town Hall will likely be in the news today because of the game that took place in their stadium. Lionel Messi led Barça to a 3rd minute goal, while Robert Lewandowski scored 3 goals for Bayern Munich. The result was a big blow to the credibility of Bundesliga fans and those who were critical of last season.
Five players scored the first five goals in the match, with all but Werder Bremen’s Polish striker Adam Musiala scoring twice. New signing Marco Reus, coupled with Serge Gnabry and Liverpool target Sadio Mané, has silenced those who thought that Musiala could not take his place within a dynamic attacking unit. The German powerhouses now look more dominant than ever, and have assembled a squad that looks ready to challenge some of Europe’s best for international titles.
“After Bayern Munich goals, Eintracht Frankfurt were just lost,” said Oliver Glasner, head coach of Eintracht Frankfurt. The German club quickly conceded two goals and Bayern took easy ground. The club will have a chance to play Real Madrid the following day and do better.
A big-picture focus on the Champions League will help Bayern to win titles and protect the landscape. Since Bayern is so strong, you won’t see any other teams competing for the title this season.
That dominance also has a flipside. The Bundesliga is working hard to gain international recognition. Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn, and executive board member Andreas Jung have urged other German clubs to go abroad, in recent weeks, to help sell the league.
Eintracht Frankfurt (to Japan), VfB Stuttgart, and 1.FC Köln have already announced tours for the World Cup break in November.
Going abroad is one thing; convincing people that the league is competitive is another; after all, Bayern smashing Frankfurt 6-1 in the opener fails to impress soccer fans on social media. One glimpse of social media in the US on Friday evening shows how tough it has been for the Bundesliga to sell itself as a product.
Now that Bayern Munich is opening the season, it’s reminding us of a time when they dominated the league without competition. One fixture that would make more sense would be if Dortmund were to take on Leverkusen, which would be a great evening match with higher stakes.
Both Bundesliga teams will be interesting to see, but after Bayern won on Friday, team’s popularity is only going to stay high of the die hards. A variety of footballing options are available for fans to watch as the Premier League opens Saturday.
Manuel Veth is a prominent voice in the soccer world, covering the Bundesliga, reporting for Pro Soccer USA, and providing insight on other topics.
