The upset was not to be, and Werder Bremen have to settle for a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of reigning champions FC Bayern. Lewandowski proved to be the difference thanks to his double in the space of three minutes, which crushed the hopes of a Werder side who had been very resilient until then.
Line-up and formation: Alexander Nouri did not make many changes for the game against FC Bayern. Like against Hoffenheim, Robert Bauer, Milos Veljkovic and Lamine Sané made up the defensive part of the formation, while Gebre Selassie and Augustinsson occupied the flanks. The slightly more defensive minded Gondorf came in for Florian Kainz to start in central midfield, and he was joined by Thomas Delaney and Maximilian Eggestein. The duo of Max Kruse and Fin Bartels started up top.
7th minute: Bayern take early control of the game. Werder are too static and and lagging behind so far. After a scramble in the penalty area, Tolisso’s shot cannons off the crossbar. Werder’s goalkeeper hadn’t cleared Vidal’s cross far enough away from the area and the ball fell to Tolisso. A big sigh of relief in the Weser-Stadion.
25th minute: The Green-Whites defence has become much more compact and Werder have put the nerves from the first 15 minutes of the game behind them. SVW get a chance in the Bayern penalty area, when, after a free-kick, the ball falls to Delaney who shoots on the turn. Hummels slides to block the shot and Augustinsson shoots from the rebound but the left-back’s effort is also blocked. Werder’s best chance so far.
38th minute: Arjen Robben, who has not always been the best header of the ball in his career, connects with a Ribery cross from 12 yards out but his attempt flies just wide of Pavlenka’s right post.
45th Minute: Goalless at the break. Werder concentrating on being secure and compact in defence and are doing that so far. Despite this, Bayern are getting closer to opening the scoring, but their dominance has not translated into goals. Werder have been lurking on the counter attack but have not had any clean cut chances so far.
56th minute: Bayern still dominate the match and are making it hard for Werder to get out of their own half. But the reigning champions can’t break down the Werder defence or get past Pavlenka. Vidal’s long range effort is poor and off target.
66th minute: Werder win the ball in their own area and start a counter attack. The Green-Whites combine to take the ball to the edge of the Bayern penalty area but Eggestein’s ball into the middle ends up in no-man’s land.
72nd minute:Goal for Bayern. They’ve made the breakthrough. Substitute Coman crosses from the left and Lewandowski flicks it into the net with his heel. A frustrating goal to concede.
75th minute:Goal for FC Bayern. Three minutes later, and FC Bayern double their lead. The outstanding Robert Lewandowski shoots from inside the penalty area and fires his shot in through the legs of both Bauer and Pavlenka. 2-0 to Bayern with 15 minutes left to play.
85th minute: Nouri has brought on two attacking-minded players in Kainz and Johannes Eggestein but Bayern are keeping the ball and running down the clock.
90th minute: The ref’s final whistle brings to an end Werder’s first home game of the season, which ends in defeat after the Green-Whites held out courageously for the majority of the game.
Summary: Bayern needed 72 minutes to break down the Green-White defence. Until Robert Lewandowski’s first goal, which opened up the game, Werder’s defence stood tall for a long time. Werder put in a much improved defensive display in comparison to the preseason, which built upon last week’s strong showing against Hoffenheim. Apart from a shaky opening few minutes, in which Tolisso hit the bar, the combination of Bauer, Sané and Co. made life difficult for the Bayern forwards. Bayern did dominate the game, but despite having around 70% of possession, the visitors could not really generate anything meaningful. Werder tried to combine their solid defensive effort with a quick counter-attack, but they couldn’t make use of their chances. In the end it came down to the class of Bayern’s Polish centre forward, whose two clinical finishes resigned Werder to their first home defeat of the season.
