It was in the 2009-10 football season that Barcelona became the first and the only team in the world to win a sextuple(six trophies). They won every title that a club can win, incredible history! Now this record is about to be equaled by Bayern Munich, they already won 5 titles and are on the verge of winning their 6th title of the season. But how did they achieve this feat? Let us get into it.
Bayern Munich was disastrous under Niko Kovač, the former coach played with the tactics not suited to a team like Bayern, losing to small clubs, attacking less, no build-up play, and many more drawbacks. Ultimately, he was removed after losing 5-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt. Hansi Flick was appointed as the new Bayern Head Coach and then things started to change for Bayern Munich. Before this, the German had only managed in divisions below the Bundesliga and was an assistant to Joachim Low and Niko Kovac. He had no experience in managing big clubs, but he has turned into a beast within a short time.
TACTICAL CHANGES: Bayern under Kovač often played in a U-Shaped manner leaving space in the central area, there was more attack from the wings, hence they were always outnumbered and became more predictable, they failed to find spaces between the lines. Thomas Mueller was dropped, Kimmich played in defense. In Flick’s era, everything improved. Flick plays in a 4-2-3-1 formation, Kimmich and Thiago formed a defensive midfield pair. On the attack Thiago and Mueller occupy the central area supporting the play, Kimmich stays in the defense and quickly passes the ball on the counter-attack directly leading to goals, wingers are well organized to cross to the central areas or cut in to score directly. In their absence, fullbacks Pavard and Davies’s pace helps them dribble and cross to the central areas, Robert Lewandoski is often available in the correct positions to receive the passes and finish things. Bayern press high up the pitch and the attackers have excellent pressing patterns led by Mueller, leaving no options for the build-up play for the opposition. Pressing and recovering the ball quickly gives no options for the opposition to attack. On losing the possession, they immediately counter-press giving no chance for the opposition. This is what made them tactically the best team in the world.
With no expectations, they were winning all.
PHYSICAL TRANSFORMATIONS: Bayern’s are technically brilliant, they press high, recover the ball quickly, play attacking football, but these are not only the attributes that brought them success. They are physically the best team in the world. Their physical transformations are amazing, Robert Lewandowski, Leon Goretzka, Coutinho, Alphonso Davies have the best physique, their speed and strength are unmatchable. Goretzka has become HULKORETZKA, Coutinho is different from his Barcelona days, he has legs of a Horse, Davies has doubled in volume, we don’t need to specially mention Lewandowski, he’s a BEAST. But how did they do this ??
Bavarians used the lockdown perfectly! Surprised? Yeah, well there was a special man behind all these, Dr. Holger Broich! He is currently the Head coach for Bayern Munich. He trained the players online! Every players’ fitness was monitored online and the special diet and routines were assigned to the players which improved the players. The club followed the traditional approach as they collected all the data related to the individuals’ physiques. They used Deutsche Football League (DFL) sports analytics data and framed the workouts. Due to the Lockdown, all the sporting fraternity was devastated, the players are all in their homes, NOT PLAYING. This really affected all the players, they lost their game and not physically ready, players suffered injuries. Bayern’s Fitness department thought this situation would arise and planned beforehand. They started conducting training and monitoring the players online. After the lockdown, the players were in the best condition to start playing again.
SQUAD DEPTH: Bayern are the team that has one of the strongest squads in Europe, they have a great squad depth. Neuer is the wall of Bavarians. He is the best goalkeeper in the world. Neuer, combined with his defense, conceded way fewer goals now. Boateng and Alaba form a great center back pair. Pavard and Davies are destroying the opponents. Thiago and Kimmich master the midfield. Sane, Lewandowski, and Gnabry are a destructive front three. Muller playing in the number 10 is a master class. Bayern does not entirely rely upon the playing 11, they have a great bench team as well. Thiago left for Liverpool, Bayern is still dominant. In fact, the next day they demolished Schalke with 8 goals conceding zero! The squad has others like Goretzka, Koeman, Sule, Musiala, and several others who rotate with other players.
Bayern not only defeats their opponents these days but absolutely demolishes them, they managed to score 43 goals in the champions league. The experts are already estimating that they would win 3 Champions Leagues in a row with this kind of play. They are left with achieving only the Club World Cup title. With that, they could complete a Sixtuple. With their current form, that would be a cakewalk for them. .