For Pep Guardiola, it might be hard to accept but Bayern Munich are obviously much more dependent on their brilliant wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery than previously considered.
After a disastrous 1-3 defeat on Wednesday in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final against FC Porto, the Spaniard's dream of winning the tournament appears to be in great jeopardy as it seems unlikely that the Germans will proceed to the semi-finals. Bayern now need a 2-0 victory in the second leg on Tuesday to advance, reports Xinhua.
Bayern won't be among the favourites to win the Champions League without Robben and Ribery. Bayern scored an average of three goals when both were playing as compared to only 1.7 without them. They won 2.6 points when the Dutch and French strikers were on the pitch and the chance to win a game was 82.8 percent with Robben/Ribery and only 58.3 percent without them.
2013 edition winners Bayern managed to gradually stabilise their game after Porto went 2-0 up after only 10 minutes. But teams like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid can deliver a much higher quality than Porto. Meaning to be 0-2 down against one of the so-called big guns will be the end of Bayern's dreams of wining the final in Berlin on June 6.
As expected, Bayern coach Guardiola chose a midfield diamond to support central forward Robert Lewandowski, and next to him Thomas Mueller, a strategy which lately seemed to work. It compensated for the loss of the injured Robben, Ribery and David Alaba.
This time, Bayern's problem of putting the opponent under pressure turned out to be a heavy burden after Porto surprised the Germans with an aggressive pressing game. Bayern still had more ball possession, up to 70 percent, but lost two-thirds of man-on-man duels.
More From This Section
Guardiola expected the game to be far from a piece of cake but looking at his team, he must have been shocked by the mistakes.
It is still possible to turn things around in the second leg but the situation could not be tighter.
Bayern's strategy to rely on Lewandowski failed totally. They had far too less chances and to be precise, there were only two in 90 minutes.
"A 1-3 defeat is not a result we're happy about, 1-2 would have been much better but I still see good chances for the second match. One thing is clear, we must create much more chances than we did," Bayern captain Philipp Lahm said.
"I'm optimistic because Porto did not create many chances. They scored after we made mistakes. There were too many presents for Porto today."
Former world class goalkeeper Oliver Kahn is worried when Bayern will have to play without Robben and Ribery.
"It is not only their individual class but the deep respect opponents have when they have to play against such outstanding guys like the two of them. When both are not on the pitch you are not that confident anymore," said the former Germany captain.
Porto's midfield, a chain of five, gave Bayern no space and the Germans did not manage to get any real pace into their game. There was also not enough movement and finding space.
Bayern won 18 of their last 20 Champions League games at home and Porto did not win one of its eight away-games in the knockouts. Midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger will most likely be back, an important fact as Thiago seemed not fully fit after his long injury break.