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Bayern Munich hosted Schalke at the Allianz Arena, knowing full well a victory would take them within five points of the league leaders as Borussia Dortmund surrendered a three-goal cushion in twelve second half minutes to draw 3-3. The Bavarian giants were clinical right from the get-go as they ran out comfortable 3-1 winners.
Teenage striker Ahmed Kutucu was on hand to polish off a brilliant free-flowing counter attacking move from Schalke as he cancelled out Jeffrey Bruma's early own-goal but goals from Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry ensured that Bayern secured all three points.
In a game where the record Bundesliga champions dominated for large parts, the Royal-Blues didn't have too many bright spots as it was another below par display, especially at the back, and Domenico Tedesco will look to set things right before their Champions League showdown against Manchester City.
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That said, let's look at some of the talking points from the game.
#1 - Schalke looked disjointed as a team
Playing a wide 4-4-2 with Nabil Bentaleb and Sebastian Rudy sitting at the heart of midfield, Schalke looked well equipped to deal with Bayern Munich's attacks, at least on paper. That wasn't to be the case and they got completely overrun in midfield, so much that Tedesco had to take emergency action by replacing Rudy with Omar Mascarell as early as the 33rd minute. In defense, they didn't do themselves any favors as Jeffrey Bruma inadvertently pull the ball in to his own net from a James Rodriguez through ball and his partner, Salif Sane, looked uncharacteristically sloppy as well. The Schalke boss was visibly frustrated with his players on the touchline and had no qualms in admitting that his team did not deserve to get a positive result in the post match press conference.
#2 - Niko Kovac finally finds his preferred midfield duo
Bayern Munich have an array of options to choose from at the center of the park. Thiago Alcantara, Leon Goretzka, Javi Martinez, Corentin Tolisso and if need be, Joshua Kimmich are all capable of slotting in to the two holding midfield roles in Niko Kovac's preferred formation but recently, the Goretzka-Thiago pairing seems to be his go-to choice. They complement each other brilliantly as Thiago, with his technical ability, incisive passing and ability to maneuver in half-spaces runs the show and Goretzka being the terrific box-to-box athlete that he is, tidies up defensively and ventures forward if an opening arises. The dynamic duo ran the show from start to finish as Schalke couldn't get to grips with them. Kovac singled out Goretzka for praise after the game and later went on to explain that Bayern Munich's midfield was set up as a double-pivot, with Goretzka and Thiago shielding the defense.
#3 - James Rodriguez's influence continues to grow
James Rodriguez is one of the finest #10's of our time and has played a key role in title winning teams from various countries, most notably with Real Madrid, but it hasn't been plain-sailing for him at Bayern Munich. In the 18/19 season in particular, he wasn't really fancied by his manager at the start but over the past few weeks, the Colombian has been given a run of starts and he's justified his manager's faith in stunning fashion. Rodriguez was a constant threat from his favored attacking midfield position and the own goal was a result of his brilliant through ball to Lewandowski. He's grown in stature over the past month or so and with Thomas Muller suspended, Niko Kovac looks all set to unleash the mercurial Colombian in their Champions League round of sixteen clash against Liverpool.
#4 - Domenico Tedesco is feeling the heat
Tedesco's debut campaign at Schalke went down as a massive success as Champions League football was restored to the Gelsenkirchen club after a three-year absence and the club finished an astonishing 2nd ahead of the likes of Leverkusen, Dortmund, Gladbach and Leipzig. The 18/19 league campaign however has been gruelling to say the least as Schalke have failed to find the right balance between their Bundesliga and European commitments. They are currently 13th in the league, sixteen points behind RB Leipzig who occupy the final Champions League qualification spot, and have struggled to find any kind of consistency. Bayern Munich breezed past them without hitting top gear and with a round of sixteen tie against Manchester City around the corner, Tedesco needs to get his tactics spot on if Schalke are to have a realistic chance of qualification.
#5 - Counter-attacks are Bayern's Achilles heel
When Bayern Munich were deep in the Schalke half having thrown every outfield player forward, Nabil Bentaleb nicked the ball and played in Weston McKennie, who ran a few yards before putting 18-year-old Ahmed Kutucu on goal and the teenager finished emphatically to level the scoreline. With Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng, Bayern's center halves aren't exactly the fastest and Schalke punished them to devastating effect.
Even the stats seem to suggest that Bayern Munich are susceptible to counter attacks. With the Liverpool tie on the horizon, Kovac knows Bayern can't afford to give the likes of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah too many opportunities to hurt them on the break.
Judging by his most match comments, the Croatian knows full well what to expect from Liverpool and he'll be eager to tighten up at the back before the big showdown.
