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BERLIN: Munich’s Oktoberfest is in full swing, but Germany’s most successful football club is not in the mood to party.
Bayern Munich are in crisis after going four straight Bundesliga games without a win.
Doubt, uncertainty, doubt and anger. Their form at the club has been evident since Bavarian rivals Augsburg beat Julian Nagelsmann’s star-studded side 1-0 on Saturday.
When they visited Oktoberfest in traditional Bavarian attire on Sunday, the enthusiasm of the team and officials was low – smiling for the camera but not cheering.
The 10-time defending champions have started the season well, scoring 15 goals and conceding just one in their opening three games, the best start of any team in the Bundesliga.
Then it stopped.
Bayern have not won since – three draws in a row at Borussia Monchengladbach, Union Berlin and Stuttgart – and Saturday’s shock also ended Bayern’s 87-game winning streak in the league. Leipzig were the last team to keep Bayern scoreless in the Bundesliga on 9 February 2020.
“In the first three, four, five weeks, we didn’t give our opponents any chance,” said Bayern midfielder Marcel Sabitzer, “but all of a sudden, everything disappeared.”
This isn’t the first time Bayern have endured a hangover ahead of their annual Oktoberfest festivities. Niko Kovac’s side lost before holiday visits in 2018 and 2019, while Carlo Ancelotti was sacked shortly after the team’s 2017 visit. Guardiola was the last Bayern coach to oversee a victory before Oktoberfest 2015.
Due to the unpredictable development of COVID-19 infections and restrictions, the event was not held last year or the year before.
Nagelsmann had been expected to lead Bayern not just “only” into the Bundesliga in his second season in charge, but with the team slumped, he appeared to be stuck trying to find answers.
“I need to think about everything, about myself, about the situation, about everything,” a visibly exasperated Nagelsman said at Saturday’s postgame news conference.
Nagelsmann was outraged when asked if the team missed Robert Lewandowski, who moved to Barcelona in the offseason and continued his goalscoring style in Spain.
“I’m saying the same thing,” Nagelsman said. “If I say ‘no’ then everyone will say ‘he doesn’t know the problem’ and if I say ‘yes’ you will all write ‘he misses Lewandowski’. The answer doesn’t matter.”
But it’s clear that Bayern have problems converting their chances. The team had 19 shots on target against Augsburg – two of which came from Bayern goalkeeper Neuer – but it was Neuer’s opponent Rafael Djikevich who celebrated a couple of times in the end ‘s save.
Bayern veteran Thomas Muller said he was “angry” after the third draw. After a winless fourth game, he said: “We’re standing here in shock and dismay. It matches the weather, it’s getting darker and darker.”
Sadio Mane has been criticised for the first time since joining Liverpool. The Senegalese star has scored three goals in his first three Bundesliga games, but has since scored nothing.
There has also been speculation over Nagelsmann’s future, with some linking former Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel with the club. Tuchel is available after being sacked by Chelsea earlier this month.
But Bayern chief executive Oliver Kahn and club president Herbert Heiner have both said they support Nagelsmann without even considering a change.
“We have full confidence in Julian Nagelsmann and our entire team,” Heiner told local newspapers Münchner Merkur and TZ. “The season has only just started and we know we have the potential to achieve our big goals.”
While Bayern struggled in the Bundesliga, the team’s Champions League journey has gotten off to a winning start after Inter and home victories over Barcelona.
Inter defender Robin Gosens has been surprised by Bayern’s domestic troubles.
“When we played against Bayern, we all sat in the dressing room after the game and thought: ‘Wow, how intense are they playing,'” Gosens said on Monday after joining the rest of Germany’s national team. “It’s already at the absolute top level in Europe and the world. They caught us off guard, overtook us and showed twice our intensity.”
However, there were warning signs in Bayern’s 2-0 win over Barcelona last week, when the visitors created more chances only to be hit by a quick shot just after the break.
Then came the first defeat of the season in mild Augsburg.
The international break gave Bayern’s players and officials time to think about it. The next game, against Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on September 30, will prove whether this is beneficial.
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