There is a widespread understanding across German football of the compound word Bayern-Dusel.
It dates back to the 1970s and relates to Bayern Munich’s habit of somehow getting seemingly fortunate breaks to win a game near the end. Are Bayern often just plain lucky?
The term hasn’t been used very much this season, yet ironically it has suddenly become appropriate, not because Bayern have prevailed in matches due to late winners, but rather because of dramatic, fortuitous actions to achieve draws.
On Saturday I sat at the top of the BayArena in Leverkusen on a night of bitter cold, commentating on the Meistergipfel (summit of champions) for ESPN. It was especially bitter for the 3,000 Bayern fans in the Gästeblock (away section) and the many thousands more worldwide who had to watch the Rekordmeister create not a single chance or carve out a corner, all while clinging on to 0-0 against a much better Bayer Leverkusen.
At half-time, the live info system in front of me confirmed that we had just witnessed the first complete half of football since data collection began in the Bundesliga without a single Bayern shot or attempt.
The sense of Bayern-Dusel was real when Manuel Neuer saved an Amine Adli effort in stoppage time and the ball sat up for Florian Wirtz, who contrived to fire his effort wide with the goal gaping. It was not ideal for Bayern in the Rheinland, but in a results-dominated world, they were at least able to say that their eight-point cushion at the top remained intact. The sense of bullishness in some of the post-match interviews, however, I found to be not very Bayern like.
No matter. Job done and on to Celtic at home in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.
It didn’t take long to work out that Bayern looked decidedly unsettled against the upbeat Scottish champions.
Worryingly, Celtic’s multiple chances stemmed from mistakes by the defensive collective as well as of the individual variety. Josip Stanisic, back after a longer-term absence with a knee injury, didn’t appear match ready. Meanwhile Dayot Upamecano kept giving the ball away, Kim Min-Jae cut an uncertain figure and Raphaël Guerreiro seemed off the pace against former Bayern reserve team player Nicolas Kühn.
When Kühn opened the scoring on the night and levelled it on aggregate, no one could argue it was undeserved. That it took a goal deep in stoppage time from fit-again substitute Alphonso Davies to save Bayern’s bacon and grab a draw on home soil, thus avoiding extra time, goes down as worrying.
The Thursday front cover of Kicker magazine said it well. “Die Leistungen stimmen nicht mehr.” The performances are just not right any longer.
Something has gone awry, and remember this is a club obsessed with das Finale dahoam, the Champions League final this season taking place on home soil at the Allianz Arena. Right now, Bayern seem a long way from the category of potential winners. A round-of-16 tie with Leverkusen in the next round will prove a challenge; Bayern are winless in their past six encounters against last season’s champions.
When you analyse the spine of the team, you don’t see a lot wrong with an axis of Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Jamal Musiala and Harry Kane. The squad itself is one of the best assembled in European club football.
With Kane having gone off a half-time on Tuesday due to a calf injury, it hits home that there is no true backup for the England captain. The decision to, first of all, not play Mathys Tel very much and then send him to Tottenham Hotspur on loan still strikes me as odd.
Musiala, so often the catalyst and difference maker, was invisible in the games against Leverkusen and Celtic.
The tempo of the Bayern team has disappeared these last few weeks. To be charitable, perhaps it has something to do with the burdensome fixture list but it’s something that must be urgently addressed.
You might have noticed I haven’t mentioned coach Vincent Kompany until now. The Belgian has impressed most observers with his amiable manner and calm demeanour, but at Bayern, it’s traditional to directly address issues as they arise. Is this the time for Kompany to ratchet things up? Is it in his makeup?
Had Bayern gone out against Celtic, it — fairly or unfairly — would have guaranteed an uncertain future for the former Burnley manager in Munich. As it is, results in the past two matches have allowed him to extol the strong mentality needed to achieve Bayern’s objectives, but more than the right attitude will be needed against Sunday’s opponents, Eintracht Frankfurt.
Sunday is Election Day across the Bundesrepublik and Eintracht Frankfurt would get most people’s vote as the sort of team capable of damaging Bayern. I watched from the top of the atmospheric Nordwestkurve in Frankfurt last week as Eintracht defeated Holstein Kiel 3-1 to continue their unbeaten domestic run since the start of the year.
Third place and therefore Champions League football appears a good bet for Dino Toppmöller’s side, who have regained their balance again after wobbles in December.
Eintracht have a few things going for them when it comes to potentially posing problems for the leaders on Sunday. For starters, they have the pace in attack to unsettle Upamecano and Kim. Hugo Ekitike can decide games with his unpredictable movement and this could be an assignment for jet-heeled new signing Elye Wahi next to him.
Toppmöller, who worked at Bayern under Julian Nagelsmann, deploys a back three, and while defensive chief Robin Koch remains a doubt with a shoulder injury, Arthur Theate is for me a key figure with his passing ability. Ansgar Knauff and Nathaniel Brown can cause trouble on the flanks and in former Bayern midfielder Mario Götze and the precocious Can Uzun, Eintracht have a pair of Feintechniker (precision technicians).
If Bayern are minus Kane on Sunday, it means a square-peg-into-a-round-hole type of replacement. By that I’m referring to an out-of-form Serge Gnabry or a pair of false nines in Musiala and Michael Olise. Thomas Müller would be an outside shout at best at this stage of his career.
While an eight-point lead or more at the top has never been overturned at this stage of a Bundesliga season, I’m not sure we’ve quite reached Vorentscheidung (preliminary decision) territory in the title story. Frankfurt are capable, and the Rekordmeister can’t rely purely on Bayern-Dusel to see them through.
>
