Bayern took all three points in their visit to Hertha at the Olympiastadion, 2:0, in what was a tale of two halves. The first was rather lousy, and the second was just short of impressive.
Courtesy of Dortmund’s annoying win against Stuttgart, Bayern were denied the chance of clinching the title in this game. Despite that, the team rallied back for a win in the second half, after a rather chaotic first.
You have to hand it to Hertha BSC, who decided that Bayern were not to take control of the game and play it in the hosts’ half. Some impressive high pressure was applied, and Bayern’s desperate attempts to take the game to a comfortable position were not resulting in anything worth noting.
Douglas Costa and Thomas Müller were a bit isolated, further up the pitch than was necessary to put the ball down to the ground and attempting to thread passes through and past Hertha’s high lines.
Still, for all of Hertha’s success in making Bayern uncomfortable and keeping die Roten mostly at bay, their attacking still lacked the punch necessary to deprive Manuel Neuer of a clean sheet.
One noteworthy aspect of this first half was the amount of high balls and volleyball-like motions. The players could not – or would not – set the ball down for threaded passing. This was true of both teams and it produced some rather chaotic sequences of play. The game became stuck in these passages quite a few times, annoying players on both teams.
Seemingly exhausted from the excruciating effort of pressing Bayern so high up the pitch for 45 minutes, Hertha retreated in the second period.
Bayern had much of the middle of the park to pass the ball. Thiago Alcântara and Arturo Vidal found much more space to find wingers or switch the play with a couple of passes.
It paid off quite quickly, with a quick succession of passes on the left eventually finding Robert Lewandowski near the edge of the box. Bob then nudged the ball towards Vidal who rocketed it at goal. A deflection off a defender rendered Thomas Kraft helpless to stop the shot. 0:1.
The game continued in this fashion, and stepped into familiar territory. The opposition resorted to ultra-defensive tactics and Bayern had to be patient.
Lewandowski had a bit of an off day in his goal-scoring and space-finding duties, so finding chances became that much more difficult. After an uneventful 30 minutes or so, Douglas Costa decided he wanted a go from the left. Producing a decent Arjen Robben impression, he cut inside in a quick diagonal and tried a shot at goal. Another rocket, as it found the top corner of the goal faster than Kraft could react. 0:2, home and dry.
Not the best of games, but a very good second half, much like the Schalke game. Carry on.
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