Hoffenheim 1-4 Bayern Munich: Initial reactions and Observations

Initial reactions and Observations

It may not look like it, but Bayern got lucky with this win. Harry Kane’s hat-trick and Kim Min-jae’s defensive masterclass proved to be the difference as Hoffenheim tirelessly went forward to get a goal or two.

The referee had an off day today, misjudging a lot of calls in favor of either team.

To reiterate: Kane is the best player in the world, and you can’t prove otherwise.

That’s about it, thanks a lot for sticking around with us. Bayern host Markopolo’s favorites Werder Bremen next week, and then an away day at Pafos in Cyprus after that. Buckle in because we’re heading into the gritty part of the season.

90+10’ — Full time!

90+9’ — TOR! Kane’s shot is parried by Baumann but Serge Gnabry smashes the rebound into the net from an impossible angle. That should seal the deal for Bayern!

90+8’ — Luis Diaz breaks free and finds himself 1v1 with Oliver Baumann, but the former’s chip goes just over the bar.

90’ — Nine minutes have been added on.

86’ — Sacha Boey is replaced by former Hoffenheim man Tom Bischof.

83’ — A dubious call from the ref results in a freekick, which deflects off Joshua Kimmich and past Manuel Neuer.

78’ — TOR! Bayern get another penalty for a foul on Michael Olise, and Harry Kane makes no mistake and gets his hat-trick!

68’ — Kim Min-jae goes down, but it looks like he’ll be okay. Nevertheless, Dayot Upamecano replaces him.

62’ — It’s a triple sub for Bayern: Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry, and Michael Olise all come on for Leon Goretzka (who did nothing), Nicolas Jackson, and Lennart Karl.

48’ — TOR! Bayern win a penalty and Harry Kane slots it into the bottom corner.

45’ — We’re back for the second half!

Halftime Observations

Bayern has been sloppy throughout this game, and Hoffenheim is taking advantage of these momentary lapses. Even with these rotations from the UCL match, such incidents should be kept at a minimum.

Kim Min-jae is well and truly back, singlehandedly denying the hosts a couple of goals to make sure that Bayern held on.

Harry Kane is the best player in the world, hands down.

45+6’ — Halftime.

45+3’ — Kim Min-jae with yet another crucial block as he deflects the ball over the bar from a Hoffenheim cross.

45’ — Five minutes have been added on.

44’ — TOR! Harry Kane puts Bayern in front with a well placed finish. Lennart Karl gets the assist with a grounded corner!

39’ — The deadlock is still intact as we near the end of the first half.

25’ — There’s a short water break but the last five minutes is all Hoffenheim as they take advantage of an unusually sloppy Bayern. Kim Min-jae seems to be getting back into it, denying the hosts with a big block.

19’ — Several close chances for the home side and the visitors, but a goal is yet to come upon us.

10’ — We’re 10 minutes in and no significant breakthrough from both sides so far.

Kickoff! — Here we gooooooo!

Lineups are out! The big change that Vincent Kompany made to the team that beat Chelsea is the inclusion of Nicolas Jackson and Lennart Karl in the starting XI, marking their first ever starts in a Bayern shirt.

Interestingly, Joshua Kimmich, Michael Olise, and Serge Gnabry have all been benched, while Cassiano Kiala and Wisdom Mike start on the bench.

Bayern Munich return to Bundesliga action fresh from a routine 3-1 win over Club World Cup champions Chelsea in the Champions League opener. Harry Kane was the star of the show, with the Bavarians mostly comfortable throughout that match. Today, they travel to Sinsheim to play southern rivals Hoffenheim, who sit in sixth place with two wins and one loss.

Bayern, currently in red hot form, aims to get the job done without fuss against Hoffe but will have to do without Josip Stanišić who picked up an injury against Chelsea. The quality of the Rekordmeister, however, should be enough to see off Die Kraichgauer despite them being one of those supposed bogey teams.

Prediction: Bayern wins 4-0

It’s Bayern time.

While you’re waiting for the match, do consider listening to our Preview Show! Listen to it below or on Spotify.

Support Bavarian Podcast Works on Patreon!

If you like our podcasts and want more, or just want to listen our episodes ad-free, then support us on Patreon! Every single dollar will be used to help boost the coverage of the team we all love. Mia San Mia.

Donate now!

Match Info

Location: PreZero Arena (Rhein-Neckar-Arena), Sinsheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Time: 3:30 PM local time, 9:30 AM EDT, 6:30 AM PDT

TV/streaming: Paramount Plus ESPN+, Find Your Country

If you’re a new member, feel free to introduce yourself! We’re mostly very friendly! Also, we’re from all parts of the world so don’t feel shy if you’re from a country that doesn’t seem represented on the blog.

Use the on-screen “Refresh comments” button to periodically load new comments.

Keep the sorting to “newest” to easily follow the conversation. It puts the newest comments at the top.

Here at BFW we celebrate every goal like they do in the stadium: with a chant. The goal chants are for everyone to participate in! Even if you’re lagging behind the others, keep replying to the most recent call of the player’s name. Even if you missed the first call, just start from the second, and so on.

While swearing is allowed within reason, please be polite to your fellow posters and avoid gratuitous obscenities. Racist, homophobic, and misogynistic language is not allowed whatsoever.

Check out our beginners thread if you have any more questions. That’s about it. Auf geht’s!

Looking for an unending well of Bayern Munich content? Sign up for an SBNation account and join the conversation on Bavarian Football Works. Whether it’s full match coverage and analysis, breaking news, podcasts or something completely different, we have it all.

Click here to read article