Newsletter

FC Bayern Munich defeats VfL Wolfsburg with Niko Kovac in Bundesliga

Ahen the referee blew his whistle, Niko Kovac was sitting on the pitch in the stadium, which in Munich is usually not one to leave happy. A moment passed before the VfL Wolfsburg coach left the guest bench. And Kovac really didn’t look happy. Why actually? He had achieved what no other coach has achieved this season: his team only conceded two goals in the first 45 minutes against Bayern.

Kovac and his team lost 2-0 in Munich on Sunday evening. The goals for the champions, who are again first in the Bundesliga, were scored by Jamal Musiala (33rd minute) and Thomas Müller (43rd). Wolfsburg had no chance. And yet Kovac will know: In Leipzig (3-0) and in Frankfurt (5-0) FC Bayern was already leading at half-time. “It wasn’t such a lavish party as the first two games,” said Müller afterwards. Kovac said: “The bottom line is that I’m happy with the way it was done, but of course not with the result.”

It’s not that long ago that Kovac, 50, sat on the home bench at this stadium. As a football coach at FC Bayern, he won the championship and cup in 2019 – and yet he was overwhelmed by the position. The best example: When a reporter asked him at a press conference if the way Liverpool FC played pressing was something he also wanted to do with his team, Kovac replied: “You also have to have the types of players.” And then said this sentence: “You can’t try to do 200 on the Autobahn if you can only do 100.”

Bayern doesn’t have to go full throttle

Now, in the second season with coach Julian Nagelsmann, FC Bayern is currently driving through the stadiums with 200. Although in the duel with Wolfsburg he didn’t even have to go full throttle.

On Sunday, Nagelsmann nominated the eleven players who were allowed to start in Leipzig and Frankfurt. In attack they were: Sadio Mané, who scored twice but was caught offside both times, Serge Gnabry, Thomas Müller and Jamal Musiala. In the fourth minute, however, full-back Alphonso Davies had to clear the ball in his own penalty area – on the outside of the post. Wolfsburg weren’t that close to the goal in the first half. Then FC Bayern came along. Then came Jamal Musiala.

Found no remedy against the strong FC Bayern: Wolfsburg coach Niko Kovac


Found no remedy against the strong FC Bayern: Wolfsburg coach Niko Kovac
:


Image: dpa

In the 33rd minute Musiala turned the ball around the big Wolfsburg central defender Maxence Lacroix on the edge of the penalty area. The national player fell down, got up again immediately – and shot the ball into the goal. The goal was representative of his start to the season: he is the player who is currently making the difference.

After that, Bayern played like a power play until the break. And the 2-0 was also reminiscent of ice hockey: Davies played the ball in the backcourt. Joshua Kimmich, who controlled the midfield together with the in-form Marcel Sabitzer, shot – and Müller, who was lurking in front of the Wolfsburg goalkeeper Koen Casteels, deflected decisively (43rd). That’s it for the goals. And so the game ended with a small sensation: Halftime without a Bayern goal.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending