Bundesliga: With record-breaker Müller: Kompany’s bold Bayern tactics pay off

The fans celebrate record holder Thomas MüllerVincent Kompany congratulated all his players on their successful home debut on the field. The coach had previously shown courage at his debut in the Allianz Arena. With a daring offensive tactic and national player Joshua Kimmich in an innovative hybrid role, the new Bayern coach celebrated a success against SC Freiburg on his home debut. The 2-0 (1-0) win in the Allianz Arena and the record champions’ optimal six-point start in the Bundesliga were well deserved results.

Goalscorer Harry Kane scored from the penalty spot (38th minute). And Bavaria Record player Thomas Müller made it 2-0 as a substitute (78th minute). In injury time, Freiburg’s Lucas Höler shot a meter over the goal. After the final whistle, Müller was called to the fence by the fans in the south curve, where the 34-year-old thanked them via megaphone and his shoes as a gift. “I told them to work hard. They’ll need a few days off. We’ve got a lot ahead of us this year. “They liked it, of course, but so did I,” Müller said on the streaming service DAZN.

The Englishman’s first goal of the season, who had received the “Kicker” top scorer award for his 36 goals in the previous season before kick-off, was one of the key moments of the game. The penalty kick once again fuelled the endless discussion about handballs in the penalty area and the use of VAR (Video Assistant Referee).

Was war happening? In an aerial duel with Max Rosenfelder, Kane headed the SC defender onto the upper arm. Did Rosenfelder do it intentionally? No. Arm outstretched? Yes. Video assistant Harm Osmers reported after referee Christian Dingert’s decision to award a corner.

The 44-year-old referee looked at the scene from the sidelines – and then pointed to the penalty spot. The Freiburg players, including coach Julian Schuster, reacted in horror. Kane stayed cool, stepped up and converted his sixth penalty in the Bundesliga with confidence. “A truly incredible penalty. If that’s handball, then I’d rather stop playing football. That’s such nonsense,” said the mature Freiburg Captain Christian Günter.

Bayern had a hard time scoring against a resilient Freiburg team until Thomas Müller struck. And how! Müller grabbed a pass out of the air with his right foot, beat his opponent in the penalty area and successfully finished with his left foot.

«The offensive players on the field have»

Wild, active, entertaining football was the order of the day in the sold-out Munich Arena. Company wanted to offer the Bayern fans something in his first home appearance as Bayern head coach. He set up and aligned his eleven accordingly. “It’s a home game – and we have to have the offensive players on the field,” said the 38-year-old Belgian before kick-off on the streaming service DAZN.

Kane, Musiala, Gnabry, Olise, Tel – that was the concentrated offensive power. And at the back? Dayot Upamecano and Minjae Kim, who once again had Kompany’s trust as central defenders, were often left alone. Kimmich He did not play as a traditional right-back, but often operated centrally in front of the defence, pushing himself forward like Raphael Guerreiro. Tight positions like those under Thomas Tuchel are a thing of the past for Kompany in Munich.

Record player Müller in his 710th Bayern appearance

This is emphasized to the opponents. A week after the 3-1 top start against VfB Stuttgart, the Breisgau team struggled to develop their attacking game. After a free kick from Vincenzo Grifo, Lukas Kübler at least had a shot on goal – Manuel Neuer blocked the ball (57th minute), as well as an attempt by Patrick Osterhage (60th minute).

There was great applause from the 75,000 spectators when Thomas Müller came on. With 710 competitive matches, the 34-year-old is now FC Bayern’s sole record player, ahead of Sepp Maier. Before the match, the 80-year-old was honored together with former teammates such as Uli Hoeneß, Paul Breitner and Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, 50 years after Munich’s first European Cup victory in the championship competition in 1974. Müller had been on the pitch for 19 minutes when the Bayern fans celebrated him as the goalscorer.

“Records like that are not so important to me, but rather that I scored a brutally beautiful goal today, technically outstanding and then it was kept under control.” “That’s what I enjoy,” said Müller.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:240901-930-219924/3