Findings after Mainz: Bayern have a massive problem here | OneFootball

FC Bayern only managed a draw at home against Mainz 05. FCBinside provides three insights into the match

Bayern were held to a 2-2 draw against the team at the bottom of the table and the game provided the following insights

Bayern have a massive problem here

Mainz’s equalizer shortly before half-time revealed a massive problem for Bayern this season: once again, coach Vincent Kompany’s team conceded a goal from a set-piece situation. Tom Bischof was fouled near the penalty area, William Böving put the free-kick in and Kacper Potulski scored after Minjae Kim had lost out in a header duel

Bayern’s weakness when conceding set-pieces can be seen in the figures: seven out of eleven goals conceded in the Bundesliga came from set-pieces, which is around 64 per cent. No other team in the league has such a poor ratio

Sporting director Max Eberl analyzed after the game: „It’s annoying that we concede such a relatively simple cross to make it 1:1.“ The Bayern boss explained: „A: Do we have to make the foul? That’s where it starts. B: You can definitely defend the standard better.“

Joshua Kimmich also spoke about the second set-piece goal: „The set-piece goal is very annoying, that’s the only reason the second half was open,“ he said. „We have to do better,“ Kimmich admonished his team-mates: „We have to concede less: fewer corners, fewer free-kicks, fewer throw-ins.“

The winter break comes at the right time

The hard-fought draw at home against the bottom club in the table also showed that the winter break has come at the right time for Bayern. The last game of the calendar year is coming up on Sunday in Heidenheim, when the stars can take a break and regenerate

That seems to be necessary, as the team is visibly running out of energy and losing its freshness. In the summer, Bayern showed superior performances week after week and played refreshing soccer

In eight games after the Champions League victory at Paris Saint-Germain, the German record champions fell behind six times. Turning these games around took a lot of energy

Nevertheless, the overall balance after the last home game of the year remains positive. Bayern’s only points in the Bundesliga came in the draws at Union Berlin and against Mainz. FCB have a comfortable nine-point lead at the top of the table. In the Champions League, they only lost to top team Arsenal and have reached the semi-finals of the DFB Cup. With this record, the players have truly earned a quiet winter break

Karl continues to collect World Cup arguments

But one Bayern player obviously still has enough energy: Lennart Karl put in another strong performance against Mainz. The youngster scored the goal that made it 1-0 for the Munich side and constantly whirled through the Mainz defence. Karl earned the FCBinside grade 2 for his good performance

The 17-year-old has played an outstanding first half of the season for the Bayern professionals and the voices calling for him to be named in the German World Cup squad are not getting any quieter – and rightly so

photo: IMAGO

National team captain Kimmich said after the game: „It’s simply the truth. If someone plays regularly at Bayern and regularly performs well and is German, he belongs in the national team in the long term – if he can confirm that over weeks and months.“

At the moment, Karl doesn’t look like he’s about to hit a dip in form. Of course, there are those like Mario Basler, who has made putting the brakes on Karl his new favourite topic. But the way Karl is performing at the moment, he’s simply hard to stop. On the contrary: Karl is currently collecting World Cup arguments in every game.