Daily Schmankerl: The aftermath of Bayern Munich vs. Hoffenheim; PSG working through intermediaries in hopes of Joshua Kimmich deal; FC Barcelona only has three “untouchables”, too?; Manchester United to help Real Madrid with transfer proposal?; and MORE!
Bayern Munich racked up three more points.
It is good to have the Bundesliga back, eh?
Bayern Munich ousted Hoffenheim 3-0 to kick off the second half of the season and the Bavarians did so in a performance that had some great moments and some shaky lapses as well. Here are some quick hitters on the match:
- As always, let’s start with a look at Thomas Tuchel’s starting XI:
- I have zero beef with Raphaël Guerreiro. The former Borussia Dortmund man has been a good (but oft-injured) pickup for Bayern Munich. I just would have liked to have seen Leon Goretzka as part of the XI. Guerreiro was solid nonetheless.
- I thought Bayern Munich’s various tributes to Franz Beckenbauer all played out really well to the viewers on the American feed.
- Hoffenheim’s lineup was very interesting. I was curious to see what kind of impact Maximilian Beier and Wout Weghorst could make playing together against Bayern Munich. Similarly with Andrej Kramarić now playing a little bit deeper as an attacking midfielder, I was eager to see if the Hoffenheim attack would be able to penetrate through Bayern Munich’s backline. There were some flashes of what was possible for sure over the course of the match.
- Beier is a player, who has become a bit of a hot commodity in Europe of late, and also a striker that is — allegedly — on the cusp of consideration for a roster spot with Julian Nagelsmann at the Euros. A lot of Beier’s hopes for that kind of position probably fall on how well he plays against teams like Bayern Munich. For his part, Beier definitely jumped off the screen in a few moments of the match.
- For Anton Stach, a player who probably still has hopes of competing for a spot on the German national team this summer, it was an opportunity to prove his mettle. Stach did very well in holding his own in the central midfield.
- Hoffenheim was a bit conservative to start with Bayern Munich not exactly pushing the pace, either. There was definitely a “feeling out period.”
- Bayern Munich did start to really assert it at the 10-minute mark. In the 18th minute, Leroy Sané deftly slid a nice pass to Jamal Musiala, who buried the shot attempt. Oliver Baumann probably could have done better with trying to stop the shot, but Moose put his squad out to an early 1-0 lead. The shot was a rocket from Musiala, but Baumann just had no reaction.
- Bayern Munich seemed to press with a little more urgency than what we saw at times in the Hinrunde.
- For whatever it is worth, Harry Kane looked a little out of sorts for stretches of the match.
- In all, the attack had some moments of looking very dangerous, but there were some very stagnant periods, along with some bouts with poor decision-making.
- Defensively, the backline was very good for the most part and was anchored by the duo of Matthijs de Ligt and Dayot Upamecano at center-back. The unit did appear to hit a wall around the 60th minute, though. Positioning got extremely sloppy, but the group fought back together and pushed through for the clean sheet.
- Thomas Müller is not even a wing (typically) for this team, but it probably its best crosser. In this match, Müller was definitely featured more on the outside than we saw him back in December.
- In the 60th minute, Müller perfectly set up Konrad Laimer, who made a sneaky little run in, but the Austrian could not convert the opportunity.
- Minutes later, Beier looked like he was going to head home a game-tying goal, but Manuel Neuer pushed the attempt away. Not long after that, Neuer made yet another fantastic save on Kramarić. Just minutes after that attempt, Beier hit the crossbar on an attempt that he would absolutely love to have back.
- Obviously, Neuer was his usual, spectacular self.
- After that scary spell, Bayern Munich dug down and got back on the scoreboard when a nifty, little give-and-go between Musiala and Sané resulted in another goal for Musiala.
- Hoffenheim midfielder Grischa Prömel was assessed his second yellow card of the match in the 74th minute, which effective killed off any hopes for a Hoffenheim comeback.
- In the 90th minute Goretzka threaded a beautiful pass in between two defenders to Kane, who deposited the ball into the back of the net. Even in a game where he clearly was not at his best, Kane put his name on to the scoresheet.
- Overall, it was a solid, yet not spectacular, effort for the Bavarians. Bayern Munich did some really good things and had some very shaky moments, but it was the first real game after a break and Hoffenheim is not exactly a cakewalk to play against. Focus on the positives, improve the weak point, and move on to next week!
If you missed our Initial Analysis, Match Awards, Observations, and Postgame Podcast, give them a look or a listen:
Paris Saint-Germain is reportedly very serious about a pursuit of Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich. To help the cause, PSG is going to attempt to lure Kimmich to France through intermediaries:
Paris Saint-German are working on an audacious move to sign Joshua Kimmich after claims the 28-year-old will leave Bayern Munich in the summer due to his contract situation. The German international moved to the Allianz Arena from RB Leipzig in 2015 and after nine years, he could finally leave.
According to Sky in Germany, PSG are “working on a transfer for Bayern star Joshua Kimmich.” Journalist Florian Plettenberg reports that “intermediaries have already been brought in” to facilitate talks between PSG and Kimmich as his next move begins to take shape.
Bayern have also been contacted to “obtain initial information.”
Liverpool have been linked with Kimmich as their search for a new defensive midfielder continues. Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia were considerations in the summer while the pursuit of Fluminense’s Andre turned cold more recently.
Bayern Munich gets back to action on the pitch this weekend, but the rumor mill is providing much of the electricity surrounding the team this week.
Given all of that, we have a lot of topics to cover, so let’s get to it:
- Grass be damned, the NFL is coming back to the Allianz Arena.
- Eric Dier is in Germany…now what?
- A move for João Palhinha is off the table…for now.
- Alphonso Davies and Real Madrid just seems like it is going to happen.
- Joshua Kimmich to Paris Saint-Germain? That probably will not happen, but let’s explore those rumors and what they could ultimately mean for the Germany’s international’s future in Bavaria.
- Arijon Ibrahimović could be leaving, while Joshua Zirkzee could come back?
- A look at the latest episode of Fargo, along with where things are in the great “Marvel Odyssey.”
Earlier this week, we saw a report, which stated that Bayern Munich only had three “untouchable” players on its roster (Harry Kane, Thomas Müller, Manuel Neuer), but now we have word that FC Barcelona is in the same exact boat.
For Barca, Pedri, Gavi, and Ronald Araújo are the three players who Barca will not entertain offers on:
Barcelona will consider offers for every player in their squad at the end of the season aside from Pedri, Gavi and Ronald Araújo, who are the only stars seen as untouchable in Xavi’s squad.
For Bayern Munich, who has been linked to all three players at different points, the news is bad, especially when it comes to Araújo. Thomas Tuchel is said to be pushing extremely hard for the defender.
Manchester United wants to take Vinicius off of Real Madrid’s hands to “help” out Los Blancos:
Manchester United have expressed a firm interest in signing Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior, who could be sold to fund a move for Kylian Mbappé. Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are both keen on the Brazil international as well.
Meanwhile, FootballTransfers is reporting that some folks at Real Madrid would rather pursue Napoli’s Victor Osimhen instead of Mbappé:
Some senior figures at Real Madrid are not convinced by the club’s pursuit of Mbappé and would prefer a move for Napoli striker Victor Osimhen instead.
Bayern Munich had a tune-up this weekend and it did not, well, go so great.
In the wake of that uneven effort, the Bavarians are closely linked to Eric Dier, Nordi Mukiele, and Radu Drăgușin (who has since moved to Tottenham Hotspur), while also seeing reports break that nearly everyone on the squad is going to be analyzed and scrutinized over the course of the second half of the season.
Is this normal…or is a powder keg brewing. Let’s discuss!
Here are the topics we will take on in this podcast:
- Should Bayern Munich make a move for Dier?
- What about Mukiele or Drăgușin? Would they be good fits for the Bavarians?
- Who are the most likely candidates for Bayern Munich to move on from during the summer?
- What we are looking most forward to in the second half of the season.
Bayern Munich Frauen attacker Klara Bühl was named as Germany’s Player of the Year:
Big honor for Klara Bühl! The 23-year-old FC Bayern player was voted National Player of the Year 2023 by a wide margin. In a second fan vote, the title of “National Team Goal of the Year” also went to Bühl – for her opening goal to make it 1-0 in the Nations League game against Iceland. Congratulations, Klara!
It has been an up-and-down season so far for Ryan Gravenberch at Liverpool FC.
Just a season after a tumultuous 2022/23 campaign with Bayern Munich where he verbalized his displeasure to the media multiple times, the Dutch midfielder is not exactly establishing himself as a deserving, regular starter. Earlier in the week against Fulham FC, Gravenberch really struggled as he lost 10 of duels and also lost possession 16 times in 56 minutes of game time.
Given that, along with some injuries, Liverpool is on the market for a midfielder:
As such, it was a tough week on social media for Gravenberch.
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