Football: Special praise for Alaba as Bayern defense chief

Alaba was converted to a central defender for two reasons. In the fall, Bayern had problems with injuries in the central defense, and 19-year-old shooting star Alphonso Davies also won over Alaba’s traditional position as a left-back. Bayern made a virtue of necessity and landed a direct hit with the Austrian as central defender. “I know that he keeps flirting with other positions, but he’s currently a benchmark in this position,” said Flick.

Flick is particularly impressed by the development that the 27-year-old goes through as a central defender. “He plays at a very high level. When he owns the ball, he simply has a quality and always has an eye for the room. He also organizes on the defensive, keeps the line, exerts pressure and controls his teammates with commands, ”said the Bayern coach, explaining Alaba’s skills.

System suits Alaba

Bavaria’s offensive system also suits the Viennese. Munich have a lot of ball possession and are very high, so Alaba can also bring in his playful qualities as a central defender. Even Josep Guardiola had the idea of ​​using Alaba as a central defender during his time as Bayern coach and praised the extremely high flexibility of the Austrian.

It currently looks like Alaba will continue to play in the central defense. In addition to the Viennese, Jerome Boateng, who had to be replaced against Frankfurt in the second half due to muscular problems, won back his regular place. French world champion Hernandez, committed last summer for 80 million euros, has to wait for a new chance at Bayern after several injuries.

Offensive also works splendidly

Not only in the defense, which Martin Hinteregger made the blemish of two goals against the Frankfurt against standard goals (Flick: “We have to talk about that.”), But the Bayern offensive is currently functioning well. The Munich team screwed up their goals by beating Frankfurt 5-2 to a top score of 80 goals after 27 matchdays, the magical 100 goal mark is possible. Bayern hit 101 goals almost 50 years ago, when the “bomber” Gerd Müller also scored the legendary 40 goals.

Robert Lewandowski currently holds 27 goals this season after scoring against Frankfurt. The most important part of the Bayern offensive is currently Thomas Müller, who has also returned to top form under Flick. The 30-year-old impressed on Saturday with a goal and an assist. “Today you have to lift out Thomas Müller, who used the rooms very intelligently and was involved in some goals,” said Flick. Müller has booked 20 of his 24 scorer points since Nico Kovac’s replacement. With his 17th submission, he is number one in the league.

Franz Beckenbauer was also impressed. After a long time, the honorary president of Bavaria was once again one of the few admitted guests in the stadium. “In these circumstances, without fans and atmosphere, it was an excellent football game. Compliments to both teams, it was really, really good football, ”said the 74-year-old. “Bayern are in a very strong condition. But the Frankfurt players also played very well. ”

Frankfurt must “start winning”

However, the Frankfurters cannot buy anything from the praise of the “emperor”. The team from Coach Adi Hütter received the fourth loss in a row. “I think that we have performed well overall. We can build on that, even if there were no points. We will also start winning again, we also have to start winning, ”explained the Vorarlberger, whose team is in the relegation battle with 28 points.

Hütter, however, enjoyed the double pack of his compatriot Hinteregger. The ÖFB team player already has eight ligators this season – by far the majority of all defenders. The danger of scoring is not a coincidence, as Hütter reported. Because Hinteregger sometimes pushes extra shifts. “On one side it’s hard work, on the other it’s intuition,” said his coach.

German Bundesliga, 27th round

Saturday:

Bayern Munich 5-2 Frankfurt (2-0)

Goals: Goretzka (17th), Müller (41st), Lewandowski (46th), Davies (61st), Hinteregger (74th / own goal) and Hinteregger (52nd, 55th)

Alaba (Bavaria) and Hinteregger, Ilsanker (both Frankfurt) played through

Wolfsburg – Dortmund 0: 2 (0: 1)

Goals: Guerreiro (32nd), Hakimi (78th)

Red card: Klaus (82./Wolfsburg)

Schlager (Wolfsburg) played through, Pervan on the bench

Mönchengladbach 1-3 Leverkusen (0-1)

Goals: Thuram (52nd) or Havertz (7th, 58th / penalty), Bender (81st)

Lainer (Gladbach) played through, Dragovic (Leverkusen) replaced for Baumgartlinger in the 81st minute, Özcan on the bench

Freiburg – Bremen 0: 1 (0: 1)

Goals: Bittencourt (19.)

Yellow / red card: Bargfrede (88th / Bremen)

Lienhart (Freiburg) on ​​the bench; Friedl (Bremen) was injured in the 82nd minute

Paderborn – Hoffenheim 1-1 (1-1)

Goals: Srbeny (9th) and Skov (4th)

Posch, Grillitsch, Baumgartner (all Hoffenheim) played through

Friday:

Hertha BSC – Union Berlin 4: 0 (0: 0)

Goals: Ibisevic (51.), Lukebakio (52.), Cunha (61.), Boyata (77.)

Trimmel (Union) played through

Sunday:

Schalke – Augsburg 1.30 p.m.
Mainz – Leipzig 3.30 p.m.
Cologne – Düsseldorf 6 p.m.

Table:

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