Our first order of business is to suggest that all Bayern players, from this point forward, be kept in bubble wrap at all times. This includes during matches. That is to say, Mario Gomez (groin) and Daniel van Buyten (Achilles) both picked up knocks during today's CL match against Villarreal and are doubtful for Saturday's contest against Schalke in Gelsenkirchen. But, in the words of our amazing kapitan, Wir sind Bayern (We are Bayern).
Anyway, today's match was fast-paced, intense, and all-around pretty darned awesome. Toni Kroos (side note: best thing about a German stream? They don't call him Tony Cruise.) scored his first CL goal and Rafinha scored his first goal for Bayern. What did we learn from today's match?
-Our boys can play a fast-paced 90 minutes in ridiculous heat and come out on top.
-With one exception (thank goodness Manu's body can apparently stop shots without him having the foggiest clue where the ball is), our defense is looking much more solid. And it's awesome that both fullbacks are getting in on the attack.
-Petersen fits well as a lone striker in the 4-2-3-1. It's nice to have a viable option with Gomez and Olic both out.
-Franck Ribery is REALLY happy LVG is gone and he's playing incredibly well. His assist on Toni's goal was pretty amazing, considering he wasn't looking.
-The German word for "no-look pass" is apparently nolookpass (I'm just assuming that they put it all into one word, as that's how new words are created in German). Either that or the German commentator I was listening to was making things up.
And, because it's pretty awesome: Bayern's kept a clean sheet for all but one match so far this season and they've conceded just one goal (to Gladbach in the Bundesliga opener). Not a bad start!
As we all know, Sunday we head to Gelsenkirchen and I, for one, will be sending happy thoughts and prayers that it's a clean (and safe!) match for all participants and that folks won't be too horrible to Neuer. And, you know, that Bayern wins.
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