Julian Nagelsmann and Bayern Munich have now gone four games without a win in the Bundesliga with a shock 1-0 loss away to Augsburg.
Another day, another goalkeeper thwarted Bayern in the Bundesliga. Augsburg’s Rafael Gikiewicz was the hero on the night as he time and again proved to be a wall that the Bavarians could not find a way past.
It was a frustrating night for the Die Roten attackers who lacked the finishing touch on the night. Even Manuel Neuer got into the action in the dying seconds, forcing Gikiewicz to deny his counterpart a sensational equaliser.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side have now gone four straight games without a win in the Bundesliga and were admittedly sloppy when it came to decision-making in the final third. Augsburg did not just sit back and had opportunities of their own to score more.
87 – @FCA_World ended FC Bayern's record streak of 87 consecutive Bundesliga games with at least one goal – back in 2014, FCA had ended FCB's previous record streak of 65 consecutive games with a goal. Fear. #FCAFCB https://t.co/N6l6XMrw7B
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) September 17, 2022
Led by a poor Sadio Mane, Bayern had plenty of opportunities to break the deadlock. They, however, failed to rise to the challenge and fell behind in the 89th minute to a Mergim Berisha side. Despite throwing the kitchen sink at the Augsburg defence, Die Roten were time and again denied at the final hurdle.
Bayern are now three points off the Bundesliga summit and it could rise to five should Union Berlin win their game in hand. Given the players brought in and the quality at their disposal, serious questions need to be asked about Nagelsmann’s side’s inability to get the job done.
The Hard Tackle now looks at how the Bayern players fared on the night.
Manuel Neuer: 6.5/10
The German veteran enjoyed a busy first half as Augsburg came out all guns firing against the more illustrious opponents. He was well placed to save from Mergim Berisha before reacting well to deny Florian Niederlechner with the best opportunity of the opening 45 minutes. He was powerless to stop Augsburg’s goal in the second half and even made a forward foray in the final minute. Unfortunately for Bayern, while Neuer had three opportunities to score, he was not able to channel his inner Alisson Becker.
Neuer almost had his Alisson moment ? pic.twitter.com/jlQyBdSW4X
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 17, 2022
Noussair Mazraoui: 6/10
The summer signing replaced the injured Benjamin Pavard and enjoyed a rather fruitful first half. He put Sadio Mane through on goal only for the Senegalese to miss the opportunity. Mazraoui was subjected to a rather crunching tackle by Jeffrey Gouweleeuw in the second half and was taken off for Serge Gnabry in the 62nd minute.
Dayot Upamecano: 5/10
The Frenchman failed to inspire confidence and had a couple of shaky moments in the first half against Florian Niederlechner. Thankfully for him, Matthijs De Ligt and Manuel Neuer bailed him out on both occasions. Upamecano also got forward with more regularity in the second half but failed to make much of an impact.
Matthijs De Ligt: 5/10
The Dutchman was the better of the Bayern central defenders and was alert in the second minute to make a crucial block from Florian Niederlechner. Augsburg gave De Ligt a difficult time on the night and was a constant thorn all game. The Bayern ace failed to offer much otherwise and did not impact proceedings from set pieces at the other end either.
Alphonso Davies: 6/10
The flying full-back got forward regularly and delivered numerous threatening balls into the box. Unfortunately for him, the Bayern attackers failed to connect with the pass and lacked the end product to do his service justice.
Joshua Kimmich: 6.5/10
Kimmich donned the role of a deep-lying playmaker well and made several good passes that opened up avenues for the Bayern attackers. Unfortunately, they failed to connect and his efforts often went to waste. Kimmich got further upfield in the second half and could have grabbed himself an assist had Neuer scored in stoppage time.
Joshua Kimmich#FCAFCB #Bundesliga pic.twitter.com/8qvWvIHZNa
— ⚽️? (@Football_HQ11) September 17, 2022
Leon Goretzka: 5/10
The German international struggled to impress and endured a worrying time against a charged-up Augsburg side. Goretzka is still to be brought up to speed following his injury setback and the game, if anything, reinforced the fact that he needs more time to get back to his best.
Thomas Muller: 5/10
Shunned to the right on the night, the German veteran linked up well with his teammates, especially Jamal Musiala. Muller also had an opportunity to find the back of the net but joined the queue of players denied on the night by Rafael Gikiewicz.
Leroy Sane: 5/10
Sane got into some good positions on the night and even drew Rafael Gikiewicz into action with a couple of pops at goal. He, however, lacked his usual cutting edge in the final third and came away empty-handed on the night.
Jamal Musiala: 5/10
The youngster enjoyed some fine movement in the first half and could have found the back of the net if not for Gikiewicz. He also crafted opportunities for Leroy Sane, Sadio Mane and Thomas Muller, all of whom were thwarted time and again by the Augsburg goalkeeper. Musiala lacked the finishing touch and was taken off for Josip Stanisic in the 78th minute.
Sadio Mane: 4/10
A poor outing for the former Liverpool man. He linked up well with his fellow attackers but a horrible first touch combined with questionable decision-making saw him run up blind alleys on the night. He cut an increasingly frustrated figure as the game went on and was eventually taken off for Eric Chupo-Moting in the 78th minute. Something really needs to be done to ensure the Senegalese striker starts firing all cylinders again. Mane’s standout moment on the night was picking up a yellow card for a tackle on Ermedin Demirovic.
Sadio Mané has 1 goal and 0 assists in his last 7 appearances for Bayern in all competitions. The goal came against 3rd Division side Viktoria Koln in the DFB Pokal.
Glue.
— Neymar PR ?? (@bagofnuts_) September 17, 2022
Substitutes
Serge Gnabry: 5/10
The German winger found himself in a good position but never quite got going.
Marcel Sabitzer: 6/10
The Austrian international replaced Goretzka and added more impetus to the Bayern midfield going forward. He flashed a shot wide in the final few minutes of the game as Bayern threw the kitchen sink at the Augsburg goal.
Eric Choupo-Moting: 5/10
He replaced Mane in the 78th minute but failed to get involved.
Josip Stanisic: 5/10
His arrival gave Kimmich the freedom to rush forward but offered little otherwise.
