fc bayern münchen vs cf os belenenses: 1-0...
I left Augsburg at about 1.30 and drove to a Park&Ride near the research centre in Garching-Nord to meet bootstrapbetti there. We had both taken the day off, so we thought it would be awesome to spend some time in Munich before the match. Of course, our first destination was Hard Rock Café, but I had forgotten the name of the station at which we had to get off the subway, so we first walked across Odeonsplatz with faces that vaguely resembled Luca Toni's because they were so confused. XD But we had enough time, so that was no problem. At Hard Rock Café, we had beer and a late lunch, which was extremely yummy. (I really have to try making that Alfredo spinach sauce with tomatoes, parmesan and artichokes.) After the meal, we left the restaurant and took the subway to the stadium to meet bavarian_angel. We had timed this excellently because when we got off the subway, bavarian_angel called to say she was already there. :D We stood around in front of the stadium for a while and chatted about a lot of things (including the particular weirdness of Säbener Straße's jersey shop and the general weirdness of Micho XD), and it was so much fun! It's awesome to meet such wonderful and funny people. :)
At about half past six, we went to our seats - right in time for Bayern's warming up. :D
bootstrapbetti and I sat in the middle rank of the northern terrace together. The seats weren't the best ones because we sat about halfway between the corner flag and the goalpost, but we saw enough of what happened on the other side of the pitch, so I won't complain. And we were lucky that the goal Bayern shot at during the first half (when Luca Toni scored) was the one right in front of us. XD Oh, and we had the Jansen/Schlaudraff action in front of us during the last ten minutes. ;)
I didn't take any pictures of the warming up this time because Bayern warmed up on the other side of the pitch and my camera only has threefold zoom. And I don't think any of you are interested in pics of Belenenses warming up. ;) bootstrapbetti took a few pictures, maybe I'll get her to share. :D
Now, to the match!
FC Bayern München: Kahn - Lell, Lucio, Demichelis, Jansen - van Bommel, Zé Roberto - Schweinsteiger (73. Hamit Altintop), Ribéry (84. Schlaudraff) - Toni (63. Wagner), Podolski
CF Os Belenenses: Costinha -
Candido Costa (46. Amaral), Rolando, Hugo Alcantara, Rodrigo Alvim - Ruben Amorim,
José Pedro - Devic, Silas (63. João Paulo), Roncatto - Evandro Paulista (54. Fernando)
Referee: Johannesson (Sweden)
The match was quite good, and definitely a lot better than the result might lead people to believe. Unlike during the match against Schalke, the build-up was clever and quick this time. The midfield was well-organized, the passes were accurate, and especially at the beginning, everything went via the left side where Jansen and Ribéry played excellently together and confused their opponents on a regular basis. I was pleased to realize that Belenenses didn't compensate this with fouls, though. They followed their own tactics, which mostly considered of defending, and gave Bayern enough space to do some combinations and prepare chances to score. Speaking of which - I wonder if there's a target practice course during every training session that the whole Bayern squad has forgotten to participate in for the past three weeks. They had no problems hitting the goal during the first three Bundesliga matches, and ever since the match against Hamburg, they suddenly don't know where the goal is anymore. They do play beautifully and it's a pleasure to watch them, but as soon as they approach the opponent's penalty box, they do one combination or one-two too much and waste the chance.
Oliver Kahn. Didn't have to do much, but was reliable. bootstrapbetti and I made some jokes about him, like "Why the hell did they pass back to Kahn?" - "They want to let him play, too!" XDD And there was the matter of the flowerbeds Olli has to lay out in his penalty box to keep himself busy during a match. ;)
Christian Lell. Unfortunately for him, the action focused on the left wing and didn't give him much to do. I remember one scene with him where he outran a Belenenses player towards Bayern's base line and kicked the ball against his foot to prevent a corner. That's what he's good at, and I appreciate it a lot.
Lucio. Surprised me completely. For once, he was solid in the defense and even did a bit of dirty work. He advanced a couple of times, but just when I started worrying, he passed the ball to a colleague and ran back to the defense immediately. It's evident that Hitzfeld talked to him about his excursions. Still, I wonder if it's going to be like this all the time, if he needs to cause a goal before he realizes that what he's doing is wrong.
Martín Demichelis. Did his defense job well, but made one or two mistakes that could have ended in a goal against if Kahn or van Bommel hadn't paid attention. Some of his passes weren't too reasonable, as the player he passed to had an opponent in his back already, but most of the time, the ball returned to him instead of landing in front of an opponent's feet, so I guess that's okay. And no, he didn't suck, he played very well, but maybe I'm just overly-critical because I love him so much. One tends to pay a lot more attention to mistakes of players one likes...
Marcell Jansen. Showed an excellent collaboration with Ribéry during his international debut. I liked the way they approached the base line together, using their speed and easy ball handling. Jansen would almost have scored twice, but unfortunately, his rather hard shots flew past the goal. It would have been awesome if they had hit the back of the net. :)
Mark van Bommel. I was pleased to notice that he finally seems to have his temperament under control. He didn't provoke, didn't argue, didn't foul. Instead, he played great football, and was the inofficial leader on the pitch. The pass that led to Toni's goal came from him; a very clever pass, since at that point, Belenenses' defense was completely unsorted. I don't really see the point of van Bommel passing the ball to someone in a worse position instead of trying to score himself. We've seen it last season how well van Bommel can score from a distance, so why doesn't he try anymore?
Zé Roberto. Was awesome in the midfield this time, and more than once, I was speechless about the way he dribbled the ball through Belenenses' midfield. Good coordination with van Bommel. It was obvious how well they work together and how they stick to the rule of only one of them advancing and the other staying back.
Bastian Schweinsteiger. Was good during the first half and brought some speed into the game, but that ended about ten minutes into the second half. It would have been better if Hitzfeld had substituted him with Altintop at that point, instead he let him play for another 15 minutes, which didn't help.
Franck Ribéry. From the very first minute on, he showed how brilliant he is and tricked his opponents who seemed completely overtaxed with him. When an opponent was close, he kicked the ball over him and then challenged him into a running duel which he always won. His crosses were excellent - unfortunately the strikers were a bit too slow sometimes. I'm so glad we have him. It's amazing how he works hard and shows great effort throughout the whole match and never seems to tire. The only thing he can improve is his corner kicks. ;)
Luca Toni. The second debutant in the international competition. I know people say that right now, he's at 70% of what he could be, but I wonder when that's going to change. I love that even at those alleged 70%, he scores goals, because we need them, but it's time he shows some progress in training so we get to see the complete Luca Toni. :) I'm grateful for the goal he scored, for how cleverly he awaited van Bommel's pass and started running just in time, for how he kicked the ball past Costinha like Pizarro never would have. It might look simple, but we had our problems with it last season and I don't want to go through that again. Still - the day might come when one goal isn't enough, and our strikers must clearly improve their quota.
Lukas Podolski. Was completely incompatible with Schweinsteiger, especially during the first half. There were quite a lot of communication errors, passes they intended for each other didn't arrive, and one remaining still when the other wanted him to run for the ball. Very frustrating. Podolski worked a lot, even had some shots on goal, but he still needs a bit of time and training to get back. And he definitely has to work out that communication problem with Schweinsteiger. I just don't understand how it's possible that they seem like people from different planets at the moment when during the World Cup, they were like soulmates on the pitch.
Hamit Altintop. Wasn't as excellent as he used to be, but we definitely didn't lose quality when he came on the pitch. He was what I'd call a 1-1 substitution, as he played on the same level as Schweinsteiger did during the first half. He and Schlaudraff would almost have prepared a goal together during the last minutes, which was great.
Sandro Wagner. I didn't see much of him. Clearly no chances to score. All I remember of him was that quite often, he helped out in Bayern's defense and filled the hole Jansen left with his advances.
Jan Schlaudraff. Not only did he play his first match at the Allianz Arena in Bayern's kit, he also played his first international championship match, and even though he didn't have much time to show what he's capable of, he had a couple of great scenes. Sometimes. you wouldn't have thought that this is Schlaudraff running there, not Ribéry. It was awesome! I really hope he'll continue to play on this high level, and if he does, he's certainly an enrichment to the team.
Of course, there are some pictures, too. :D
Oh, and... bootstrapbetti and I agreed that Bayern wasn't playing Belenenses yesterday but Energie Cottbus, considering how reckless that goalie was. You don't just run out of your goal to catch a ball that's outside your 5-metre-box when there are opponents all around you. Makes me wonder if Costinha has a relationship with Piplica (let's hope not) or if the one simply took lessons from the other. Or if Costinha just wanted to make it into the headlines with his harebrained behaviour. XDDD
At about half past six, we went to our seats - right in time for Bayern's warming up. :D
bootstrapbetti and I sat in the middle rank of the northern terrace together. The seats weren't the best ones because we sat about halfway between the corner flag and the goalpost, but we saw enough of what happened on the other side of the pitch, so I won't complain. And we were lucky that the goal Bayern shot at during the first half (when Luca Toni scored) was the one right in front of us. XD Oh, and we had the Jansen/Schlaudraff action in front of us during the last ten minutes. ;)
I didn't take any pictures of the warming up this time because Bayern warmed up on the other side of the pitch and my camera only has threefold zoom. And I don't think any of you are interested in pics of Belenenses warming up. ;) bootstrapbetti took a few pictures, maybe I'll get her to share. :D
Now, to the match!
FC Bayern München: Kahn - Lell, Lucio, Demichelis, Jansen - van Bommel, Zé Roberto - Schweinsteiger (73. Hamit Altintop), Ribéry (84. Schlaudraff) - Toni (63. Wagner), Podolski
CF Os Belenenses: Costinha -
Candido Costa (46. Amaral), Rolando, Hugo Alcantara, Rodrigo Alvim - Ruben Amorim,
José Pedro - Devic, Silas (63. João Paulo), Roncatto - Evandro Paulista (54. Fernando)
Referee: Johannesson (Sweden)
The match was quite good, and definitely a lot better than the result might lead people to believe. Unlike during the match against Schalke, the build-up was clever and quick this time. The midfield was well-organized, the passes were accurate, and especially at the beginning, everything went via the left side where Jansen and Ribéry played excellently together and confused their opponents on a regular basis. I was pleased to realize that Belenenses didn't compensate this with fouls, though. They followed their own tactics, which mostly considered of defending, and gave Bayern enough space to do some combinations and prepare chances to score. Speaking of which - I wonder if there's a target practice course during every training session that the whole Bayern squad has forgotten to participate in for the past three weeks. They had no problems hitting the goal during the first three Bundesliga matches, and ever since the match against Hamburg, they suddenly don't know where the goal is anymore. They do play beautifully and it's a pleasure to watch them, but as soon as they approach the opponent's penalty box, they do one combination or one-two too much and waste the chance.
Oliver Kahn. Didn't have to do much, but was reliable. bootstrapbetti and I made some jokes about him, like "Why the hell did they pass back to Kahn?" - "They want to let him play, too!" XDD And there was the matter of the flowerbeds Olli has to lay out in his penalty box to keep himself busy during a match. ;)
Christian Lell. Unfortunately for him, the action focused on the left wing and didn't give him much to do. I remember one scene with him where he outran a Belenenses player towards Bayern's base line and kicked the ball against his foot to prevent a corner. That's what he's good at, and I appreciate it a lot.
Lucio. Surprised me completely. For once, he was solid in the defense and even did a bit of dirty work. He advanced a couple of times, but just when I started worrying, he passed the ball to a colleague and ran back to the defense immediately. It's evident that Hitzfeld talked to him about his excursions. Still, I wonder if it's going to be like this all the time, if he needs to cause a goal before he realizes that what he's doing is wrong.
Martín Demichelis. Did his defense job well, but made one or two mistakes that could have ended in a goal against if Kahn or van Bommel hadn't paid attention. Some of his passes weren't too reasonable, as the player he passed to had an opponent in his back already, but most of the time, the ball returned to him instead of landing in front of an opponent's feet, so I guess that's okay. And no, he didn't suck, he played very well, but maybe I'm just overly-critical because I love him so much. One tends to pay a lot more attention to mistakes of players one likes...
Marcell Jansen. Showed an excellent collaboration with Ribéry during his international debut. I liked the way they approached the base line together, using their speed and easy ball handling. Jansen would almost have scored twice, but unfortunately, his rather hard shots flew past the goal. It would have been awesome if they had hit the back of the net. :)
Mark van Bommel. I was pleased to notice that he finally seems to have his temperament under control. He didn't provoke, didn't argue, didn't foul. Instead, he played great football, and was the inofficial leader on the pitch. The pass that led to Toni's goal came from him; a very clever pass, since at that point, Belenenses' defense was completely unsorted. I don't really see the point of van Bommel passing the ball to someone in a worse position instead of trying to score himself. We've seen it last season how well van Bommel can score from a distance, so why doesn't he try anymore?
Zé Roberto. Was awesome in the midfield this time, and more than once, I was speechless about the way he dribbled the ball through Belenenses' midfield. Good coordination with van Bommel. It was obvious how well they work together and how they stick to the rule of only one of them advancing and the other staying back.
Bastian Schweinsteiger. Was good during the first half and brought some speed into the game, but that ended about ten minutes into the second half. It would have been better if Hitzfeld had substituted him with Altintop at that point, instead he let him play for another 15 minutes, which didn't help.
Franck Ribéry. From the very first minute on, he showed how brilliant he is and tricked his opponents who seemed completely overtaxed with him. When an opponent was close, he kicked the ball over him and then challenged him into a running duel which he always won. His crosses were excellent - unfortunately the strikers were a bit too slow sometimes. I'm so glad we have him. It's amazing how he works hard and shows great effort throughout the whole match and never seems to tire. The only thing he can improve is his corner kicks. ;)
Luca Toni. The second debutant in the international competition. I know people say that right now, he's at 70% of what he could be, but I wonder when that's going to change. I love that even at those alleged 70%, he scores goals, because we need them, but it's time he shows some progress in training so we get to see the complete Luca Toni. :) I'm grateful for the goal he scored, for how cleverly he awaited van Bommel's pass and started running just in time, for how he kicked the ball past Costinha like Pizarro never would have. It might look simple, but we had our problems with it last season and I don't want to go through that again. Still - the day might come when one goal isn't enough, and our strikers must clearly improve their quota.
Lukas Podolski. Was completely incompatible with Schweinsteiger, especially during the first half. There were quite a lot of communication errors, passes they intended for each other didn't arrive, and one remaining still when the other wanted him to run for the ball. Very frustrating. Podolski worked a lot, even had some shots on goal, but he still needs a bit of time and training to get back. And he definitely has to work out that communication problem with Schweinsteiger. I just don't understand how it's possible that they seem like people from different planets at the moment when during the World Cup, they were like soulmates on the pitch.
Hamit Altintop. Wasn't as excellent as he used to be, but we definitely didn't lose quality when he came on the pitch. He was what I'd call a 1-1 substitution, as he played on the same level as Schweinsteiger did during the first half. He and Schlaudraff would almost have prepared a goal together during the last minutes, which was great.
Sandro Wagner. I didn't see much of him. Clearly no chances to score. All I remember of him was that quite often, he helped out in Bayern's defense and filled the hole Jansen left with his advances.
Jan Schlaudraff. Not only did he play his first match at the Allianz Arena in Bayern's kit, he also played his first international championship match, and even though he didn't have much time to show what he's capable of, he had a couple of great scenes. Sometimes. you wouldn't have thought that this is Schlaudraff running there, not Ribéry. It was awesome! I really hope he'll continue to play on this high level, and if he does, he's certainly an enrichment to the team.
Of course, there are some pictures, too. :D
Oh, and... bootstrapbetti and I agreed that Bayern wasn't playing Belenenses yesterday but Energie Cottbus, considering how reckless that goalie was. You don't just run out of your goal to catch a ball that's outside your 5-metre-box when there are opponents all around you. Makes me wonder if Costinha has a relationship with Piplica (let's hope not) or if the one simply took lessons from the other. Or if Costinha just wanted to make it into the headlines with his harebrained behaviour. XDDD