Friday 17th December 2021
FC Bayern clearly beats Wolfsburg
Only Lewandowski almost causes a surprise
Anything but a victory for FC Bayern at the start of the 17th matchday of the Bundesliga would have been a sensation in view of the advance performances. VfL Wolfsburg is continuing its bad streak. And that, although Robert Lewandowski has to wait a surprisingly long time before scoring goals.
Autumn champions FC Bayern Munich had it again in Thomas Müller’s 400th Bundesliga game at the end of the year against the crisis club VfL Wolfsburg. Three days after the 5-0 shooting match at VfB Stuttgart, the Munich soccer stars, who were extremely goal-hungry this season, ended the first half of the season with a 4-0 (1-0) match in the Allianz Arena, which was not watched by anyone. 56 hits after a half series are a record. Jubilarian Müller was able to celebrate his 134th goal in the Bundesliga in the 7th minute. The original Bavarian successfully dusted off after VfL goalkeeper Koen Casteels let Serge Gnabry slap a flutter ball forward. The first goal by Dayot Upamecano in the Bayern shirt was also put on by Müller (57th). The agile Leroy Sané increased to 3-0 (59th) with his remarkable long-range shot.
It was a late jubilee evening for Robert Lewandowski. The Pole chased his 43rd Bundesliga goal in 2021 up to the 87th minute in vain, then scored after preliminary work by Jamal Musiala. Before that, he threw the ball over it from a good position (66th) and shot at a pass from Gnabry VfL goalkeeper Casteels (76th). Lewandowski surpassed the record of the recently deceased Bayern legend Gerd Müller, who also scored 42 goals in the Munich jersey in 1972. It was Poland’s 24th goal in the 21st Bundesliga game against VfL Wolfsburg. Only Gerd Müller had a more obvious favorite opponent: The late striker met Hamburger SV 27 times in his career. Anything but a Lewandowski goal would have been the surprise of the evening.
With 43 points the Bavarians said goodbye in two weeks of Christmas vacation. They expanded their lead over pursuers Borussia Dortmund to nine points at least until Saturday evening. “We are absolutely on track in the Bundesliga,” said Bayern boss Oliver Kahn on the TV station Sat.1: “We won all the games in the Champions League. So you can be very satisfied with the sport.” The only real flaw was the early DFB-Pokal-Aus in Mönchengladbach.
And Wolfsburg? The VfL conceded the seventh competitive game defeat in a row. 20 points are an indictment of a team that took a place in the Champions League last season. There are no happy Christmas days for the coach Florian Kohfeldt, who was abandoned by the initial success, and his professionals. Kohfeldt formed his eleven in a deeply defensive manner and coached them very intensively and audibly in the empty stadium for a long time. The Bayern half was mostly a restricted area for the guests – except for a few advances. Striker Wout Weghorst had the best opportunity shortly after Müller’s defeat goal, but failed from a tight angle against the very responsive national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Otherwise, Bayern searched the midfield duo Marc Roca and Jamal Musiala as representatives of the missing national players Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka almost constantly for gaps in the narrow spaces around the Wolfsburg penalty area and in it. When Müller, Sané and Gnabry combined directly, it was dangerous. The Wolfsburg, who were still winless in Munich, were unable to defend and prevent everything in their 23rd defeat in their 25th guest appearance. You were just a sparring partner who could have lost even higher.