Four observations from Bayern Munich’s 6-1 DFB-Pokal win over FC Magdeburg

Look, it wasn’t easy. Sure, Bayern Munich may be the big bad of the Bundesliga, but recent circumstances have been… distracting, to say the least. Wounds left and right. A trainer who collapsed after a training session and is still out of commission. A star player dealing with family grief. These are the times when a team comes together or falls apart.

Bayern chose first.

Magdeburg is no slouch either. The visitors came into this one on the heels of a 6-1 win over Karlsruher, and although they played in the 2. Bundesliga, they were as good a bet as any team to capture a pinch of German Cup pixie dust and achieve the impossible. Don’t lie, when Mateusz Żukowski’s wonderfully deflected strike was robbed by a hapless Jonas Urbig to equalize after just 15 minutes, you too had your doubts. Oh, here we go again.

Yes, the gulf in terms of quality and resources – as much as Bayern lacked that evening – was still vast. But the fact that Bayern turned things around from there and calmly and easily dispatched the visitors so that by midway through the second half it was an exercise in pace on the training pitch, is not taken for granted. Vincent Kompany’s assistant Aaron Danks is doing an excellent job of steadying the ship in the boss’s absence and it’s starting to look like the Bavarians are going to make the most of this early season fight against adversity.

The season had not started in the best way. However, there’s nothing like a few socks on your stomach to wake up a sleeping tiger.

Speaking of slow starts, this was a game of redeeming performances.

Lennart Karl had tripped so often during his performances this year that his sophomore slump became a topic of discussion. Bayern’s highly-rated summer signings Ismael Saibari and Nathaniel Brown had also been in and out of the lineup, posting a few outings that left much to be desired.

So it was good to see everyone come together at the same time. Let’s talk about Karl first. And this? Influential all over the pitch, the 18-year-old showed his bona fides as a playmaker. For once, it’s not his sumptuous strikes that do the talking (although he did attempt a bicycle kick late on) – it’s his passing. His assist for Alphonso Davies – after running in himself to find himself 1v1 with the keeper in the box – was excellent quick thinking and showed the selflessness you want your attacking midfielders to have instinctively. His outside-the-boot ping moments later, serving as an assist to Nathaniel Brown’s goal, was even better. Magdeburg didn’t make it easy to find passing lanes, but Karl, who, to be fair, was not alone in this, had the key to pick the lock.

Saibari’s super shift as a central striker was also reassuring after his performance against Arsenal. The Moroccan striker is not the quickest presence, so he must compensate for this with composure in his decision-making and precise technical execution. He had both in spades today, and also in Harry Kane’s absence. This could be huge – Bayern needed to show they can run the show as well as they did today without the Ballon d’Or winner.

Finally, Brown. The left-back capped a 90-minute performance with a well-taken goal, bursting into the center of the box to find himself on the end of Alphonso Davies’ square ball. Davies seems to be spending a lot of time in the forward lines this year, so it’s all the better that Brown can develop as a left-back option. And like Davies, Brown has that penchant for getting involved all over the field.

Wait – finally Finally? We must salute Sacha Boey and Hiroki Itō here. Two of Bayern’s forgotten men, both believed to be on the chopping block at some point this summer (or in Boey’s case, for… er, longer). It was just nice to see the two in action. Itō got the start, took an unlucky deflection, but was lively and solid at left centre-back. He made the interception to score Bayern’s second goal. Boey had his own interception late on, after being replaced in the 68th minute by Michael Olise. Both players should still have a role to play this season.

As DFB commentators have alluded to, Bayern are simply not normal. It is not normal that a team so full of talent and distinctions, individually and collectively, remains This hungry for wins and goals all the time. It’s something more than the mentality of digging deep when things aren’t going well; it’s about setting standards and knowing how to meet them. There have been times lately where one wonders if they really can.

After the season Bayern had last year – breaking goalscoring records and coming so close in the Champions League, especially with turnover – there were times when one could question that. Joshua Kimmich celebrates hated losing so much that it’s almost unhealthy. Will the next generation of Bayern have the same dynamism? Today it looked like it. Even 5-1, everyone from Karl to Olise harassed the Magdeburg players until the end. Of course, that’s how you get to 6-1.

By the way, for the future: Bayern’s goal rate in the league this year is 3.57 per game after seven days in the Bundesliga. Last season’s record performance was 3.59. No game like The classic to inflate these numbers, eh?

That said, the danger is not disappeared. We need to get back to that goal, because Bayern are really showing some luck in defense this year. It was a nice strike, yes, and also a deflection – but it was also initiated by a fairly careless drop into the field, with little cover behind.

So it wasn’t totally a “well, what can you do” goal – it was a oh no, Bayern did it again aim. Out of nowhere, a player or two can go out and the big bad German champions can be attacked. If this is the year to bring back European hardware, Bayern needs to clean house.

The good news? The last time Bayern faced Magdeburg and won (1974/75), the Bavarians ended up basking in European glory. How’s that for a good presage?

Create a user account and get: