|
Listen now
|
Reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich play host to Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga on Sunday afternoon.
The visitors will likely be on a damage limitation exercise after Bayern hit five past RB Leipzig and six past Eintracht Frankfurt in their first two games of the competitive season.
Indeed, Bayern have begun the season in scintillating fashion, with Sadio Mane taking no time at all to settle in following his £35m move from Liverpool.
There was always a nagging feeling that, despite being a brilliant individual goalscorer, Robert Lewandowski was a little too static for Julian Nagelsmann‘s preferred playing style. With Mane leading the line, Bayern already look a more fluid attacking unit.
This was on full display for Bayern’s fourth goal of their 6-1 rout away to Frankfurt last Friday, with Mane dropping deep before bullying the attentions of an opposing defender. The Senegal forward expertly waited for the precise moment to slip in Thomas Muller, who squared the ball for Jamal Musiala to tap home from close range.
The unselfishness of world-class players was something to behold in Bayern’s opening league victory. Sure, it became easier to play with freedom after Joshua Kimmich and Benjamin Pavard had given the visitors a two-goal cushion with two brilliant strikes in the early exchanges, but Serge Gnabry elected to square the ball on several occasions rather than shoot himself, most notably when Muller missed an open goal and Mane scored a trademark diving header on his Bundesliga debut.
After Gnabry made it five before half-time, the only blemish from the trip to Frankfurt was Manuel Neuer – who was undoubtedly bored by the lack of action he faced before the interval – dallying on the ball and scuppering his chances of a clean sheet in the process by allowing Randal Kolo to rob him and tap into an empty net from the edge of the area.
It remains to be seen how long Bayern can continue to play this well for, but the early signs are already ominous for the rest of the Bundesliga.
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Pavard, Upamecano, Hernandez, Davies; Kimmich, Sabitzer; Musiala, Muller, Gnabry; Mane
Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Casteels; Baku, Bornauw, Lacroix, Van de Ven; Arnold, Guilavogui, Svanberg; Wimmer, Nmecha, Marmoush