Harry Kane looks on frustrated after Bayern Munich’s 3-0 defeat to Feyenoord. The English striker … [+] hasn’t scored from open play since November (Photo by Oliver Hardt – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
UEFA via Getty Images
First, the positive, regardless of what happens on matchday 8 in the Champions League, is that Bayern Munich will advance out of the group stage. But after a 3-0 defeat on Wednesday to Feyenoord, the question is whether the Rekordmeister will advance straight to the round of 16 or face the detour via the playoffs.
On balance, it is a frustrating result for Bayern Munich. Rotterdam just needed three shots on goal to beat Bayern. Santiago Gimenez scored twice in the first half (21’ and 45+9’ penalty), and then Ayase Ueda made it 3-0 late in the second half (89’).
All three goals came from counter situations, exposing deficiencies that Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany had switched off in recent weeks. The defense, in fact, has been excellent, rescuing an attack that has lacked for goals at times, as star striker Harry Kane struggles to score from open play.
Kane has scored 22 goals and 10 assists in 24 games for Bayern Munich across all competitions this season. That’s an incredible statistic. But eight of those goals were from the penalty spot, including his last three. Furthermore, Kane hasn’t scored from open play since his Bundesliga matchday 11 goal against Augsburg on Nov. 22, 2024.
Without Kane scoring, the only other reliable goalscoring threat among Bayern’s attackers in recent weeks has been Jamal Musiala. Musiala had a big chance in this game, but his header was tipped over the bar by Feyenoord keeper Justin Bijlow.
Other than that, Leroy Sané hit the post. Indeed, just six of Bayern’s 30 shots against Rotterdam were on target. Rotterdam was more efficient and had three of their eight shots hit the goal, all three of them went past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Who once again looked anything but superhuman.
Without Kane scoring, Bayern Munich struggles to find goals from open play. (Photo by JOHN THYS/AFP … [+] via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Hence, even though Bayern seemed to be utterly dominant, the xG was just 1.75 to 2.8 in the Rekordmeister’s favor. Now, that should be enough to get on the scoresheet. But with your main no.9 misfiring and the rest of the attack toothless, Bayern is looking at a significant problem.
“I have to be honest; Feyenoord deserved their win,” Kompany said after the game. “They fought hard and ran. We had many chances; I felt we could’ve scored one, two, or even more goals. Feyenoord used their moments well.”
That was indeed the main problem here. Feyenoord used their moments well, but Bayern didn’t. But despite all that, the biggest focus was once again on Bayern’s deficiencies in defense.
While Min-Jae Kim looked out of place ahead of the first goal, Raphaël Guerreiro, who came on for the injured Alphonso Davies, caused the penalty for the second and then played Ueda onside for the second. While both moments can be attributed to individual mistakes, they were collective failures that truly caused both goals.
“It’s not about one individual; defending starts from the attackers before the ball even gets to the backline,” Kompany said. “It’s the responsibility of the entire team.”
While there is a notable drop from Guerreiro to Davies these days, the Bayern boss is right to put the blame on the entire team for all goals. It was too easy for Feyenoord to play through Bayern’s defense and explore the high defensive line in all three scenarios.
Looking at the way Feyenoord approached this game; the question has to be asked why Bundesliga teams aren’t exploring these tactics. We have seen it a couple times. Frankfurt did it well. As did Mainz and even Leverkusen.
More clubs will explore the possibility of sitting deep and frustrating an attack that seems to quickly run out of ideas going forward. Despite all its improvement, the backline still has weaknesses that can be explored.
There is, however, also an optimism that Bayern will quickly move on from this result. “There’s togetherness in the dressing room; everyone is rowing in the same direction,” midfielder Joshua Kimmich said after the game. “That wasn’t the case in the past during bad moments. We’re sticking together and have to show a reaction.”
With that in mind, Bayern will certainly be more than capable of bouncing back this weekend against Freiburg and then at home against Slovan Bratislava next Wednesday. Anything but a win against the Slovaks would be a surprise. However, whether it will be enough to finish in the top eight will be decided elsewhere.
