Bayern Munich struggling in toughest Bundesliga season yet
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It’s hard to describe a team that currently sit second in one of Europe’s top leagues as a team ‘in crisis’. Yet, given that Bayern Munich have dominated the Bundesliga almost unchallenged since the 1980s and have won the league title on the last four consecutive occasions, their current form is far below what we have come to expect from the German giants.
Bayern Munich have claimed just one win in their last four matches, bringing an end to their poor run with a 2-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at the weekend. Their worst moment undoubtedly came against Russian side FK Rostov in the Champions League, where they twice fell behind before eventually succumbing to a 3-2 defeat against a side that they demolished in a 5-0 victory at the start of the season.
However, with qualification to the knockout rounds of the Champions League confirmed, it is in the Bundesliga where their lacklustre displays have hurt them most. Their latest victory helped to keep up the pace at the top of the table, yet they have won just three of their last seven league matches since failing to overcome Cologne back in October.
Many around the club are blaming Ancelotti for Bayern’s poor form, yet the Italian boss has insisted that it is a result of his squad’s ‘bad attitude’ and he may be right. While the squad is largely unchanged from last season, they appear to be moving slower and giving less, particularly so in the final third. Their invincible edge is rapidly slipping away and smaller teams are now confident that they can take something from the game when they come up against Bayern.
The decline of Thomas Muller will be particularly worrying for Ancelotti, who will know all too well that he needs to get his star goalscorer scoring if he is to recapture the top spot in the league.
You only have to look at Eden Hazard at side Chelsea last season to see how important it is to keep your star player in-form. His best performances back in 2014/15 helped them to the Premier League title, but once his form dipped, so too did Chelsea’s.
The same has unsurprisingly happened at the Allianz Arena this season - Muller had bagged 11 goals by this stage of the season last time out, but he has yet to find the net in the 2016/17 Bundesliga campaign so far. The result? Bayern Munich’s first slump in over five years.
The draw with Hoffenheim and losses to Borussia Dortmund and FK Rostov was the first time that the club had failed to win in three consecutive matches since the the 2014/15 season. However, the last time it happened the club already had the Bundesliga title secured. This time it has had a far bigger effect on the title race.
In fact, this decline in form couldn’t have come at a worse time for Bayern. RB Leipzig are putting in some brilliant displays and pose the biggest threat to the Bavarians since Dortmund back in 2012/13. A poor November has allowed the newly promoted side to overtake them at the top of the table, which will only pile more pressure onto Ancelotti’s struggling side, as the season’s halfway mark quickly approaches.
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