Bayern Munich knows it let that one get away from them.
Never mind the first-half mishaps that saw the German Rekordmeister fall into a 2-0 hole against Viking FK on Tuesday. The Bavarians had been in such situations before and fought back strong, and came out after the break full of gumption and gusto. Bayern scored one, then two, then three…and looked well on their way to crushing the dreams of the underdog opponents as well as neutrals happy for some Champions League chaos.
Then, of course, came Michael Olise’s red card. Suddenly Bayern was on the back foot, and though Viking left the equalizer late, by then they were the ones who looked blessed by destiny.
“Without the red for sure we go on and punish them and finish the game strong,” Bayern striker Harry Kane lamented afterwards (via Sky, as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “But this is football, you have to be clever and smart in these moments, you have to control the emotions.”
Not one to single out a teammate for criticism, however, Kane returned the emphasis to the team — and where Bayern must go from here.
“We’ll get around each other and make sure we improve as a unit. We win together, we lose, draw together,” Kane concluded. “We know we need to cut out the mistakes and we’ll do that.”
Time is at a premium to sort things out. Bayern is up against it now, as Olise — needless to say one of the team’s top attackers and a veritable Ballon d’Or candidate in his own right next to Kane — will serve his suspension next week when Arsenal comes to town. The Premier League champions won’t be playing about.
Now, is Kane right about what would have been? It certainly felt that way during the game and the data backs it up. Via Sofascore:
The first half momentum meter probably flatters Bayern slightly. The Bavarian attack was just a little off and of course, Viking found their second goal — and even threatened to go for three, coming close to making good on that just before the halftime whistle blew.
The second half, though, was another story. Viking players looked gassed and the counter-attacking threat vanished; Kompany’s introductions of Dayot Upamecano and Alphonso Davies to the back line also shored up a lot of the spaces in behind. And Bayern more or less parked itself as a team right in the Viking box. By the time the penalty was awarded, the home side looked barely hanging on; the second and even the third felt inevitable before they arrived.
And then the red card. Bayern’s dreams of an emphatic multi-goal victory vanished in an instant, confirmed by the substitutions made in response, and soon that turned into a worry about equalizing. A nightmare scenario which came to life in the end.
Despite already having a few early stumbles this feels like the first real moment of adversity for Bayern this season. How they respond will say a lot about what this team is made of.
RB Leipzig could bear the brunt of the reaction this weekend. And then…let’s hope Bayern can put it all together and play mistake-free football against the Gunners.
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