Spiritless Oktoberfest for FC Bayern

Germans’ most successful soccer club could not rejoice in the annual Oktoberfest celebrations this year. Uncertainty, regret, disbelief, and anger had replaced all positive emotions in the team members as they were defeated by Augsburg by a score of 1-0 on Saturday. Even in their traditional Bavarian outfits, their faces reflected the sadness and disappointment they felt. Being the 10-time defending champions as expected the team had started the season brilliantly even clocking 15 goals in their first three opening games. But this success was short-lived. Because after that they have not been able to clock even a single win since then.
After scoring three consecutive draws with Borussia Monchengladbach, Union Berlin, and Stuttgart, Saturday, unfortunately, marked an end to Bayern’s league record of scoring in 87 consecutive games. Which was heartbreaking for its fans.
Bayern midfielder Marcel Sabitzer was reported saying that the rivals stood no chance for the first three to five weeks said but everything took a turn for the worse after that. Unfortunately, this was not the first time Bayern had a depressing annual Oktoberfest celebration. The team has suffered losses in the 2018 and 2019 festivals as well.
This was the first game after the 2-year long gap because of the unpredictable development of COVID-19 infections and restrictions. This performance is even more painful for the fans who were long awaiting the game, as per experts at Mister Casinova.
Not just the fans but even Manager Julian Nagelsmann, who lead the team in the Bundesliga in his second season in charge did not expect this to be his only success. Even he was at a loss for words for his team’s sudden slump. A visibly agitated and peeved Nagelsmann revealed in a post-game press conference on Saturday that he needs to rethink everything from himself to the team and everything else.
Nagelsmann was even more irritated when he was asked if the team missed the presence of Robert Lewandowski, who switched to Barcelona in the offseason. Instead of giving a concrete answer, he replied that it doesn't matter what the reply is, he will be misinterpreted anyway.
To top it all there are rumors about a void between Nagelsmann and the team. The Manager seemed angry at the players for not being sharp enough in the final third thus resulting in the slump in form. Whereas the players seem frustrated at his inability to take responsibility for the problems. Bayern veteran Thomas Müller expressed anger after the third draw after the fourth defeat he expressed his devastation.
Even Sadio Mane is being criticized for the very first time since joining Liverpool though he scored three goals in his first three Bundesliga appearances he has not been able to maintain that steak.
On the contrary, Bayern Munich’s shocking defeat to Augsburg has fans wondering whether Thomas Tuchel should be brought in to replace Nagelsmann. Not to mention that since a lot of money comes to these clubs through online betting platforms this crisis can affect the betting as well. For example, a sudden fall in performance could have resulted in a lot of anger, discontent, and devastation among the fans betting on the opposite side of the screen as well.
Even though Nagelsmann’s future is uncertain, and the fans are concerned, both Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn and club president Herbert Hainer backed Nagelsmann by stating they were not even considering a change.
A little over a month ago Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga title in record time, with seven matches remaining. On March 25, the winners seemed to be invincible and undoubtedly the best team in the world. But after that their performance seemed to have slumped evidently. With merely three wins, three losses and two draws in competitions. The performance has left many shocked. In the end, they will still leading the table comfortably, thus also securing the title on the 31st of 34 match days.
The team had 19 efforts at goal against Augsburg two of which were from Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer but were unsuccessful against Neuer’s counterpart Rafał Gikiewicz saved the game with his outstanding saves.
During their four-match league streak in which they managed to win none, they produced shots worth 8.2 xG but succeeded in scoring only four times. Thus, Bayern Munich entered a crisis after four consecutive Bundesliga games without a single win where they had to head into the break in just fifth place in the league.
There are many speculations like Pep Guardiola's tactics are not able to motivate and uplift his players. He also does not change his tactics keeping the strength and weaknesses of his team and that of the rivals in mind. This stubbornness left Bayern playing an average game at the most, which seems ridiculous after its previous performance.
Even though things seem to look better for Bayern in the future as the team’s Champions League campaign started with a win at Inter Milan and home over Barcelona. But even that victory was not untainted as in Bayern's 2-0 win over Barcelona last week the chances created by the opposite team could not be taken advantage of before the quick-fire goals after the interval.
Though it is quite evident that FC Bayern is in crisis. The international break is allowing Bayern’s players to reevaluate the situation. Only future matches will show whether that was beneficial or not. But a comeback is anticipated because all these players have proved to be fighters and are expected to overcome the slump and be at their best once again.