Four Observations from Bayern Munich’s resilient 3-1 victory against FC St. Pauli

Bayern Munich began Bundesliga match day 12 against FC St. Pauli with a deserved farewell ceremony for Kingsley Coman. After a decade of legendary service for ‘Die Rekordmeister’, ‘King’ leaves behind an incredible legacy: 339 appearances, nine Bundesliga titles, three DFB-Pokals, and the unforgettable winning goal in the 2020 UEFA Champions League final. Thank you, Kingsley Coman.

Expecting a strong response after Bayern’s 3-1 defeat to Arsenal, St. Pauli’s early goal immediately put Bayern under pressure. However, ‘Die Rekordmeister’ eventually broke through a stubborn St. Pauli defense to win the game 3-1, despite repeated frustration from hitting the goal posts.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the resilient comeback.

Luis ‘Lucho’ Díaz

If you had any doubts when people said Bayern Munich sorely missed Luis Díaz in their 3-1 Champions League loss to Arsenal you need only look as far as this game to understand the truth in that statement.

While Serge Gnabry did a fine job against Arsenal, Luis Díaz brings a different energy down Bayern’s left flank. Combing his tireless pressing, ability to take defenders on, and knack for finding the space behind the St. Pauli defensive line, Díaz scored one goal and assisted another, proving to be the difference maker. If his assist from the floor for Raphaël Guerreiro’s opening goal was impressive, his added time header to put Bayern in the lead was pure cinema.

After his performance against St. Pauli, the question lingers: Had Luis Díaz been available for Bayern’s 3-1 loss to Arsenal, would the Champions League tie have ended differently?

Set-pieces of garbage

Maybe this is still a bit of a hangover from Arsenal’s set-piece domination and unfair comparison to a team that has been honing their dead-ball craft season upon season, but Bayern’s set-pieces are simply not good enough.

Bayern amassed a total of ten corners and eight free-kicks. 18 opportunities for ‘Die Roten’ to put the St. Pauli defense under pressure. But. Nothing. If anything, Bayern’s set-pieces broke their flow and allowed the ‘Kiezkicker’ time to regroup.

This may not seem like the biggest problem since Bayern score so many goals from open play, however, when you come up against a team that plays a low-block with eleven men behind the ball, set-pieces become a vital chance to hurt the opposition. Since Vincent Kompany’s style of play caters for scoring goals in transition, opportunities that pop up very rarely against a low-block, it makes dead-ball situations that much more important. Yet, it remains a lingering problem.

St. Pauli deserved to lose this game

For all the praise St. Pauli received for holding onto the 1-1 scoreline for so long, they ultimately got what they deserved.

The Hamburg-based side scored their goal early in the first half by being proactive in their press: dispossessing Konrad Laimer and launching a quick counter-attack from within Bayern’s defensive third. That is how St. Pauli got the edge over Bayern—not by sitting back, putting eleven men behind the ball, and defending for their lives.

It’s understandable that St. Pauli wanted to hold onto their lead, even scrape a draw, because after all, any points against Bayern are points you wouldn’t have banked on, especially when you’re a newly promoted team. However, if the ‘Kiezkicker’ learned anything from Bayern’s 6-2 demolition job on SC Freiburg, you can’t rest on your laurels against Bayern, especially not Vincent Kompany’s Bayern.

It is impossible to know what would have happened had St. Pauli remained proactive—after all, their early bravery was rewarded with a goal. But retreating and giving up control, while uncomfortable for Bayern, ultimately guaranteed their defeat

Bayern don’t have a depth problem, they’ve got a quality depth problem

One doesn’t exactly jump off their seat in anticipation when seeing the likes of Nicolas Jackson, Leon Goretzka and Josip Stanišić getting ready to enter the game. They’re all fine options, but in a way that’s all that they feel like — a default choice for lack of a better alternative.

In defense of those three, especially Jackson who bagged Bayern’s third goal of the evening, they came on and helped play their role in securing Bayern’s comeback. However, are those players going to have the same effect against the likes of an Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid or Barcelona. Probably not.

While Bayern have options, there should be an impetus internally to improve the squad’s overall quality, not just the starting lineup.