Category: German Bundesliga

Live blog: FC Bayern v SV Werder Bremen – as it happened

Join us as we live blog the Bundesliga clash between high-flying Bayern and Werder Bremen.

The match may be over, but you can relive it as it happened by scrolling to the bottom of the page.

FULL TIME

The referee blows the final whistle. FC Bayern supporters will be leaving the Allianz Arena more relieved than happy. Werder Bremen matched them for most of the match, though the changes Bayern could turn to on the bench seemed to give them that crucial edge in the end. Nevertheless, the away side can take pride from their performance into the remainder of the season as they fight to stay in the Bundesliga. More performances like today should see them safe. Bayern though go 16 points clear at the top. Jupp Heynckes returning to Munich has seen quite the transformation in fortunes for Die Roten who are marching towards further glory.

16:20

Junuzovic goes close again for Werder from the edge of the box. He’s had a couple of openings today, though not working Ulreich with neither attempt. With 90mins on the clock, it would have made for a nervy ending also.

GOAL!

4-2! Game over. Bayern put the nail in Werder’s coffin as it opens up for Thomas Müller who slips it past Pavlenka for his second. A fine showing by the ramdeuter, really showing his detractors up with his performance today. That’s also his 100th Bundesliga goal.

16:10

Ribery has been outstanding in the second half. A real vintage performance by the Frenchman, harassing Werder defenders in their own half.

ANOTHER GOAL! 

3-2! Bayern go straight up the other end, Thomas Müller gets the ball in the box, Robert Lewandowski is there again, heading it downwards under Pavlenka into the corner. Werder were level for all of two and a half minutes. They’ll be kicking themselves.

https://twitter.com/fuboTVsoccer/status/955109788832104449

GOAL!

2-2! Sven Ulreich makes a hash of a seemingly easy take on the edge of his area. This results in a corner that is swept in to the box via a couple of deflections, hits Niklas Sule and bobbles into the corner. Werder are level. It’s all down to Sven Ulreich. What might Manuel Neuer be thinking? 🤦‍♂️

16:00

Game will suit the likes of Kingsley Coman now as Werder Bremen feel the need to attack and get themselves back level. After Pavlenka makes a neat save from Lewandowski, Bremen break and nearly find an opening. However you still sense the away team might get an opportunity against this Bayern defence.

GOAL! 

A double substitution for Bayern sees Arturo Vidal replace Javi Martinez and Kingsley Coman replace the non-existant Arjen Robben. It gives them the ultimate instant boost as Bayern score from the next play. Corner comes in and Robert Lewandowski rises highest and nods into the back of the net. A long way back for Werder Bremen now.

https://twitter.com/fuboTVsoccer/status/955106375876653056

15:45

Interesting five minute spell as Joshua Kimmich is getting forward more having been pinged back a little in the first, whilst Arjen Robben seems a little subdued. Bayern’s fans are in fine voice since the Thomas Müller equaliser. As I say that, Jérôme Gondorf goes close again for Werder as his deflected chip beats the keeper, but also the bar. Bayern break quickly from the resulting corner, get the ball across the Werder defence, but Lewnandowski commits a foul whilst also beating the post with his resulting shot. The match is opening up all of a sudden.

15:40

A certain Manuel Neuer keeping a close eye on his Bayern team from the crowd. He remains sidelined with a ankle injury.

15:35

Florian Kohfeldt deserves recognition for the way his Werder side performed in the first half. Setting his team up astutely, but with enough about them to counter a strong Bayern side takes some doing. Bayern start the second half much the same as the first. Plenty of possession, working the ball patiently from wing to wing.

15:30

Czech Republic  defender Theodor Gebre Selassie will be replacing Robert Bauer, who was walking a tight rope following an early yellow card. No changes for Bayern at the break.

15:25

John seems to be enjoying his visit to the Allianz 📸

15:20

Werder’s social account is well chuffed with the first half, and rightly so..

HALF TIME

The goal coming so close to half-time, despite being deserved on the whole, will take it out of Werder, I’m sure. They’ve battled hard throughout the half; Werder might also find themselves unlucky not to be ahead at the break. Jupp Heynckes’ half-time talk will be a lot easier following Müller’s goal, for sure. Interesting second half coming up.

GOAL!

Bayern are now working the ball to the wings a bit better. Werder have slowed their tempo over the last few minutes, and as I say that, Jerome Boetang plays an absolute worldy of an inswinging cross, that Thomas Müller takes on the chest before finishing with aplomb. Fully deserved overall for the league leaders.

15:10

Danish midfielder Thomas Delaney is winning every 50/50 so far. He’s popping up on the left, right and centre of midfield. Putting in a right shift.

15:05

Bayern maintain their fair share of possession, but seem to be hitting white brick walls in and around the box. Werder are throwing themselves at absolutely everything. It’ll be interesting to see if they can keep this up for the full ninety minutes. When attacking, it seems as though Werder might be targeting Bayern left-back Juan Bernat as a weak link.

15:00

Robert Bauer, already on a yellow, commits a an awkward looking foul to the left of the Bremen half. Correct decision not to award him a second yellow, but other referees might have seen it otherwise. Lucky boy.

GOAL!

Werder might not be enjoying the fair share of the possession, but they’re most definitely the more dangerous side and they make Bayern pay this time around. It’s Jérôme Gondorf who finds himself one and one and he squeezes it past Ulreich into the corner of the net. It’s been coming.

14:55

Despite being penned deep in their own half, Werder are insisting on playing out from the back. This time it works, as they break forward quickly, another ball come in from the left, only for young Eggestein to head it wide via a deflection. Resulting corner comes in, headed only as far as the edge of the box, with Junuzovic hitting the volley just wide.

14:50

Werder are finding it hard to keep the ball when they win it back, meaning Bayern are enjoying constant possession (69% / 31%) at the moment. Javi Martinez also seems to be enjoying himself, playing a libero type position, linking defence to midfield.

14:45

He came close earlier, but here is Max Kruse’s hat-trick against Hannover 04 back in November.

14:40

Bayern work the ball neatly between Lewandowski and Ribery around the Bremen box, but the classy Polish striker steps offside and the move once again comes to nothing.

14:37

Chance for Max Kruse. Times his run perfectly, gets his head onto the ball and beats Ulreich in the Bayern net, but clips the post and goes out. Early scare for the home side.

14:35

Both teams settling into the match. Werder seem to be sitting deep in their own half, with two banks of four whilst Thomas Delaney and Max Kruse press hard from the front. Jerome Boetang has already managed two cross-field pings; second of which results in a dangerous free-kick for the home side that comes to nothing.

14:30

The match is underway at the Allianz Arena..

14:25

Jiri Pavlenka to keep Bayern at bay? 👐

14:10

James Rodriguez to make someone happy today? Just the three goals in 13 appearances so far this season for the Colombian. He’ll be hoping to improve those figures over the second half to the season.

https://twitter.com/RuhrpottPep/status/955075810645499905

14:00

In typical circumstances, Arturo Vidal starts on the bench. 🤦‍♂️

13:55

Official line-ups

13:45

Ones to watch:

Since Jupp Heynckes returned to Bayern, the Chilean Arturo Vidal has been reinvigorated. Ever the hustle and bustle in the Bayern engine room, he has also since rediscovered his goalscoring touch, scoring in four consecutive Bundesliga matches between 8 November – 9 December. He is 13/2 to score first with Unibet.

Boasting the joint-poorest scoring record with basement club Köln, Werder Bremen are not the most exciting team in this season’s Bundesliga. However, frontman Max Kruse has the ability to cause a Bayern defence, that lacks a certain Mats Hummels, some issues. Kruse has four goals so far this term, with three of them coming in a blistering hat-trick at home to Hannover 96 in November. He would be a shock 14/1 first goalscorer, also with Unibet.

13:40

Last five Bundesliga matches form (via Soccerway – our choice for all footballing stats)

bayern-werder-form

13:30

Welcome to our first live blog over at Football Foyer as Bundesliga giants Bayern come head to head with Werder Bremen at the Allianz Arena. Despite sitting at opposite ends of the table, both come in to the game in the top half of the form table. Jupp Heynckes’ return revitalised a stifled Bayern Munich, with his team picking up nine wins in their last 10 league matches. Inexperienced coach Florian Kohfeldt boosted Die Werderaner following his late-October appointment as first team coach. Since in the Bundesliga, they have three wins, two draws and three defeats, whilst they’ve also progressed in the DFB Pokal.

 

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Auf wiedersehen, Carlo

Carlo Ancelotti has been unceremoniously fired by Bayern Munich, subsequently replaced by former kingpin, Jupp Heynckes. We look into the sacking story which engulfed Munich and what the future might hold for the German giants.

By Charlie Dawson

Imagine being the only manager in history to win three UEFA Champions Leagues, also having won the domestic league and cup in Italy, Spain, England, Germany and France. Yet, the one thing people remember about you most, is your eyebrows… and a non-speaking cameo in Star Trek.

Carlo Ancelotti, arguably one of the greatest managers of all time, has won everything there is to win in a managerial career spanning 23 years. He has managed eight clubs, from the great UEFA Champions League winning AC Milan sides of 2003 and 2007, to a Chelsea team which achieved a new points record in the Premier League, and was the mastermind behind Real Madrid’s famous La Decima achievement. But even after all that, a Bundesliga title and DFL Supercup win was not enough to keep Don Carlo on his Munich throne.

Carlo Ancelotti has been unceremoniously fired by Bayern Munich after finding themselves five points behind early Bundesliga pace-setters, Borussia Dortmund, and three points behind PSG after an embarrassing 3-0 rout at the hands of Dani Alves, Edison Cavani and the world’s most expensive player, Neymar.

Bayern Munich have high standards, higher expectations, and if Frank Ribery and Arjen Robben’s reaction to almost anything less than 100% success are to be believed, even larger egos. Former manager, Jupp Heynckes, has been confirmed as manager until the end of season, and this seemingly continues the intended plan that Ancelotti was to step down two years into his three-year contract, to be replaced by Julian Nagelsmann, as was recently discussed on 5Live’s Euro Leagues Podcast.

High-flying Hoffenheim manager, Julian Nagelsmann, clearly doesn’t understand the concept of subtlety, and has spoken out and admitted: “FC Bayern does play a big role in my dreams. I lived in Munich for many years and I am from Landsberg am Lech. ​That is my home. ​My wife and my kid will move to Munich soon, we’re building a house there. FC Bayern would make me even happier. It makes me happy, when someone like Uli Hoeness, who made FC Bayern so huge, thinks highly of me.”

Nagelsmann has made his intentions clear. And Carlo? Well, he doesn’t really seem to care. Ancelotti said: “Now I am on holiday and will be for about 10 months. I don’t want to come back earlier than that but inside I still want to coach every single day, therefore I don’t think I would join a national team. I respected all of them, but as a manager I have to make choices to put 11 on the pitch and seven on the bench. It is up to each player’s intelligence to accept my choices and up to the club to back its manager.”

Ever a man looking somewhat perplexed with one eyebrow always raised, Ancelotti doesn’t seem that surprised or that bothered about his sacking. Instead, he seems more focused on spending his time relaxing and enjoying life, than rushing back into football and exploring what went wrong in Munich.

Carlo is an easy target to blame for Bayern’s perceived failure, but perhaps the lazy choice. Bayern Munich have had issues for quite some time, and continue to have the same problems that have pestered the club for a number of years. Robben and Ribery are yet to be replaced with viable alternatives despite a respectable season for Douglas Costa (currently on loan at Juventus with an option to buy), and promise in the form of Kingsley Coman. Bayern were a club looking to lower the age of their squad with Pep Guardiola at the helm of their preverbal ship, but the ex-Barcelona man continued his pattern of short tenancies, leaving Munich after just three seasons.

Bayern have attempted to replace the likes of Xabi Alonso, Phillp Lahm and an injured Manuel Neuer (out until 2018 with a broken foot). Ever the team looking to transfer windows seasons in advance. Bayern have attempted to bring through youngsters, and have success stories in the form of Joshua Kimmich, who emulates Lahm’s versatility if nothing else, and highly-rated Niklas Sule from Hoffenheim, but have still failed to find successors to big names in the squad.

This season Bayern have brought in the very promising Corentin Tolisso from Olympique Lyonnais, in a position they are already well-stocked in, with the former Lyon man finding himself competing against the likes of Arturo Vidal, Thiago Alcantara, Kimmich, Javi Martinez and even Thomas Muller at times. Bayern are team that need to transition, but don’t seem to know quite what it is they wish to become. Guardiola has his men well drilled and expertly informed going into games, focusing on dominating possession and pressuring the opposition. Ancelotti is very much the opposite of that, preferring his teams to be free in attack and express themselves on the pitch. Ironically, a complete juxtaposition to that of his Parma days, where the former Italian international rejected a chance to sign Roberto Baggio (a decision he would later regret), due to a belief the player would not fit into his rigid 4-4-2 formation.

Guardiola was always going to be a hard act to follow by any standard, and especially when replacing him with a manager that has such a different approach to leading a team. Bayern are a club that believe they are bigger than paying the ludicrous transfer fees required for today’s superstars (but may have to pay up to £70m should Renato Sanches reach his potential), and have made some odd choices both managerially, going from one extreme to another in the form of Pep’s micromanagement, to Carlo’s more relaxed, free flowing, organic style.

Former long-standing Die Roten right-back, Willy Sagnol, took over as interim manager for all of about ten days, after doubts remained over his ability to lead Bayern Munich at the top-level with his previous domestic management experience limited to spell at Ligue 1 side Bordeaux. He was in charge for the one match alone, a 2-2 draw at Hertha Berlin, and has now been replaced by Jupp Heynckes, who takes over for the fourth time in his career (Second as caretaker), and will likely be succeeded by Juliann Nagelsmann, or another in-fashion name (Thomas Tuchel). Regardless whoever takes over Bayern’s revolution, they will have a long haul ahead of them, and a lot of pressure. Nagelsmann is wanting and waiting, but for now Heynckes has the burden to bare.

Bayern are seemingly a team finding themselves increasingly in the headlines for various reasons. From their attitude to transfers, perceived failure to perform both domestically and internationally, and more recently due to lack of foresight with regards to management and some continuity in their style of play. Going from a ruthlessly drilled Van Gaal, to the brilliant performances of Heynckes, to a borderline anal attention to detail with Guardiola, then flipping to the relaxed almost laissez faire attitude of Ancelotti, and finding themselves once again with their first treble winning manager Heynckes. It could be argued that Heynckes should never have left Bayern in the first (second or third) place, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. The now four-time Bayern man will undoubtedly steer the unsteady Bayern ship out of it’s uncertain storm, into safer waters, so a new captain may succeed where others have been deemed ‘unsatisfactory’ in the eyes of the Bayern board and their ever expecting fans.

Either way the future will be interesting for Bayern Munich, and entertaining for the rest of us. The only person that doesn’t seemed too interested? Well that’s Carlo Ancelotti, with his eyebrow officially lowered.

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