Opening game of the Bundesliga: Bremen’s hope is Bavaria’s open goal

SV Werder is the clear outsider against FC Bayern in the opening match of the Bundesliga. Bremen’s hope is Munich’s goal, which has become increasingly open in recent years.

The good thing about the record of the past games is that they have only a very minimal influence on the upcoming game. Psychologically, it may play a role to have lost a lot against someone for years or to have surprisingly won several times.

The fact that FC Bayern have won 23 of the last 27 Bundesliga games against Werder Bremen and lost none has a lot more to do with the fact that in most cases Bayern had a much better team with better players than the former serious title competitor.

This will be the case again on Friday (08/18/2023) when the 23/24 season opens in the Weser Stadium. The people of Bremen have to cling to something. It will be the atmosphere under the floodlights, maybe a bit too, that Harry Kane – the Bundesliga’s new superstar – might need a bit more to live up to the label that was put on him in sporting terms.

Rarely without a goal

Another Bremen hope may lie in a record of past games, coupled with the nature of the man on whom the balance is drawn.

In the 13 games in which Thomas Tuchel has been head coach for Bayern, the opponent has only failed to score three times. That was the case with a narrow away win in Freiburg and successes against relegated FC Schalke 04 and Hertha BSC.

In the Supercup against RB Leipzig, Munich conceded three goals and there were a few other scenes in which the long-held impression was reinforced that Bayern have problems on the defensive.

For a long time, Robert Lewandowski covered up the problem with his many goals, but the center forward is long gone, and Munich paid a lot of money late to correct the mistake of missing compensation.

A lot of money for centre-back

Bayern have also paid a lot of money in recent years to stabilize the defensive, which began to wobble under Hansi Flick.

While there were 32 goals conceded in the Bundesliga under the current national coach in the phenomenal 2019/20 season, thereafter it was always more than one per game on average. In the years before Flick, there were fewer, usually significantly fewer.

This balance sheet stands despite the fact that FC Bayern spent around 80 million euros for central defender Lucas Hernández (who has since moved on to Paris Saint-Germain), almost 70 million euros for central defender Matthijs de Ligt and a good 40 million euros for central defender Dayot Upamecano .

None of the transfers had the desired effect, and therefore, apart from the 100 million for Kane, Munich invested half of the sum in Min-jae Kim, a central defender from South Korea, who had become Italian champion with SSC Naples. Kim is considered Tuchel’s dream player.

Rather counterproductive

Kim and Kane came into the game late against Leipzig, and they are expected to be in the starting XI for the Bundesliga opener at Werder. In an almost bizarre appearance after the Supercup, Tuchel gave the English center forward a guarantee. “He plays every game. Done, it’s over,” said the coach, after previously protesting that he felt sorry for Kane because the team played so poorly.

After everything that has come out about the sensitivities of some Munich professionals and the working atmosphere in recent years, that should have been rather counterproductive.

“Notoriously dumb at defending”

The question of the favorite for Friday evening does not arise despite the Bavarian problems, which are expanded to include the open goalkeeper question. Even a point win for Bremen would be a surprise. In the week before the start of the Bundesliga, Bremen also discussed an interview. Niclas Füllkrug was there after Werder lost 3-2 in the first round of the DFB Cup at third division side Viktoria Köln. “To put it in extreme terms: We are known to be stupid when it comes to defending“said the centre-forward.

Bremen’s hope is that this will continue to apply a bit to FC Bayern.