There were no surprises going into this Saturday afternoon for Matchday 19 in the Bundesliga. The opponent? Aggressive. The absentees in our team? Numerous. And the pitch? Well…
Augsburg has always been and remains a challenging place for FC Bayern to visit. This makes the 3-2 win all the more positive.
Like the victory against Union Berlin midweek, this result shows that we are capable of keeping the pressure on leaders Bayer Leverkusen and that we’re able to maintain our focus when it matters.
A valuable three points
“That was a valuable win,” remarked Leon Goretzka after the demanding match. Augsburg did well to play to their strengths, to battle, to work hard and play a lot of long balls. “It’s really difficult to win here. Augsburg’s home results against the top six speak for themselves. The conditions suit them as underdogs. They love that. We had to accept that we needed to put in a lot of tackles and do the dirty work that often goes unnoticed, and we did that,” said coach Thomas Tuchel.
To make matters worse, the starting defence of Raphaël Guerreiro on the right, Matthijs de Ligt, Eric Dier and Alphonso Davies had never before played together in that formation. The news of another important player in Kingsley Coman getting injured did nothing to help either.
Attitude and morale remain high
Despite the circumstances, the team focused on the fundamental qualities of their football. Attitude and morale remain high and key moments in games continue to be impactful.
Delight for Pavlović
Aleksandar Pavlović, coming into the starting XI, scored his first goal for the senior team and was overjoyed: “I’m very happy, these are very important points. We had to keep a clear head today. The penalty at the end somewhat tarnished the result, but overall we played smartly and deserved to win,” he summarised, whilst also thanking assistant coach Anthony Barry for his goal.
According to ‘Pavlo’, Barry had expressly advised him to stand in front of the goalkeeper. “And that’s where the ball came,” grinned the goalscorer. The 19-year-old remains in top form. His game is solid, which has not gone unnoticed by his colleagues. “You can see him enjoying football every day in training. It’s just nice to see that. We’ll continue to need him in the coming weeks,” said Goretzka, looking ahead.
Aleksandar Pavlovic scored his first senior goal for Bayern away at Augsburg.
Davies, meanwhile, impressed with a right-footed shot to make it 2-0 just before half-time. Harry Kane remains a goal machine after a two-game ‘goal drought’ - 23 goals after 19 appearances in the Bundesliga is nothing less than outstanding!
Lovro Zvonarek is another player that made his competitive debut. “He has trained well and deserved it,” said Tuchel on the 18-year-old academy graduate.
Neuer recognises the required belief
This season has certainly been no walk in the park, and yet Tuchel is not the only one to notice “many things we can build on”. Captain Manuel Neuer emphasised: “Even if it was close at the end, we finished the game with the confidence that we will leave the pitch as winners.”
So, this week ends with two wins and six points - not a bad feeling ahead of the fan club visits on Sunday. “We can show up there with smiles on our faces,” acknowledged Neuer.
As challenging as this current period may seem, another win and smiles all round can’t be all bad.
More reaction from the win in Augsburg can he found here:
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