This was always a dangerous team.
No hype, no stars, but very well coached and dangerous, confident forward-thinking players all combine to make a team that you just don't want to really face.
Robben is huge for Bayern. For those that doubt his greatness, just look at how much Bayern have been struggling without him, and when you also add Ribery to the missing list, it has forced Guardiola to try and do a lot more coaching and be more inventive.
The Bald One can get away with missing half his team and still win in the Bundesliga, but the Champions League is a whole tier above Hamburg and Paderborn. And Pep was outcoached, because he faced a team with superb organisation and incredible intensity.
Can Dante, Alonso and Boateng really be the only reasons Bayern lost? Because it goes both ways. As everyone has agreed, this has to be the emptiest performance a Pep team has put out. Because Lewandowski and Gotze were part of the same Dortmund team that got to the Champions League final. So perhaps we need to look at how Gotze and Lewandowski are being less effective for Bayern than they were with Dortmund.
Bayern are in a hole. They can and I still think they will come out of it. But I look at that FC Porto team and their psychology, and with Alonso and Dante there, Porto can score. Even if they are not there, Porto can STILL score. There is just a glowing confidence throughout their whole team. Brahimi, Danilo, Ricardo and El Capitan Martinez are all very strong and positive players. Granted, no Danilo for the second leg, but these are not a bunch of individuals, this is truly a TEAM.
Ribery will be needed AT LEAST, because the mission is to score two and concede none. IF Porto manage to score a goal, will Bayern really put three or even four past them? It is very possible and it can happen, because I have seen it before, but Bayern will need to improve drastically and really be more direct and inventive in how they attack. And with no Robben, Guardiola must get the best out of Lewandowski and Gotze because Thiago cannot do it on his own.
HH
