Munich – Robert Lewandowski crossed his arms in front of his chest and went into the goal pose. The world footballer has sweetened Christmas for himself and Bayern Munich with another record for the ages. The service striker scored his 43rd Bundesliga goal in 2021 in the 4-0 (1-0) of the sovereign autumn champions at the end of the year against the troubled VfL Wolfsburg and thus has one more than “bomber” Gerd Müller in 1972.
The Pole had to wait a long time for his very special moment: he missed several opportunities before he scored in the 87th minute. Thomas Müller (7th) gave the German record champions the lead in their 400th Bundesliga game, but Munich played with too little speed and ideas in the first half. That changed after the break.
A double strike by Dayot Upamecano’s first competitive goal (57th) in Bayern dress and a dream goal by Leroy Sane (59th) clearly set the course for victory. Wolfsburg is looking forward to uncomfortable holidays after the seventh competitive game defeat in a row.
“That hurts,” said coach Florian Kohfeldt, who praised the graduation and the courage to play. “Of course, defending doesn’t work at all, I’m sorry,” he said at DAZN. Because the Lower Saxony did that far too deeply – and not always cleverly. As with the 0: 1, when goal scorer Müller was able to shoot in the set-off from goalkeeper Koen Casteels after a shot by Serge Gnabry from five meters. “We lose the assignment instead of staying calm,” complained Kohfeldt.
Nagelsmann, for his part, warned against the wolves’ switching game – and rightly so, as it always showed. Wout Weghorst appeared shortly after Bayern’s lead in front of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who just prevented the 1-1 with his right leg (8th).
Wolfsburg was often unable to show these quick combinations, but the Munich protection team around Upamecano, who rotated into the starting line-up for Niklas Süle (back), mostly acted too attentively. Weghorst came through once again, but after Yannick Gerhardt’s cross no longer hit the ball (33.).
A weakness of the Bayern game: It was too center-heavy for a long time. The construction was mostly done by Upamecano, who rarely looked for the fast outsiders. However, with their rows of five, the wolves usually obstructed the rooms quite well.
Even after the break, most of the Bayern attacks ran through the middle, where Wolfsburg always put a leg in between. That was also due to the lack of Munich speed.
When things went fast through Gnabry and Sane, it was 0: 2 after Müller’s 13th assist (record extended). The beautiful Sane-Schlenzer from the edge of the penalty area made the decision shortly afterwards.
“Go on, men!” Kohfeldt called out encouragingly. But the guests struggled to keep the result at an acceptable level. In the last quarter of an hour, Marcel Sabitzer made his comeback on Bayern’s part.