Roma vs. Bayern Munich: Lessons Learned from Champions League Game
Bayern Munich thrashed Roma 7-1 at the Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday night in one of the best performances of the Champions League group stage this season.
Heck, it was one of the best performance of any season, so brilliant were the Germans throughout.
Arjen Robben (x2), Mario Gotze, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller (pen) put them up 5-0 by half-time as they ran riot over Roma. Gervinho—very impressive in the face of his team's embarrassment—briefly reduced the deficit, only for Franck Ribery and Xherdan Shaqiri to come off the bench and seal the deal.
The result leaves Bayern on track to top Group E, while Roma are left to try and regain some confidence ahead of their trip to Munich next month. Read on for a few things learned from their meeting in the Italian capital.
Bayern's Depth Is Truly Frightening
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The way Bayern Munich have stockpiled talent has led to concerns Germany's most powerful club could become so dominant they will soon be without rivals in the Bundesliga. Domestically, Gotze and Lewandowski have been taken from their most recenter challenger Borussia Dortmund. Others, such as Mehdi Benatia and Shaqiri, have come from abroad.
Such an accumulation of talent is not so threatening to the Champions League's competitiveness. So long as high-quality players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are elsewhere, other teams will have chances. After all, Bayern cannot buy everyone.
Still, the depth of Pep Guardiola's squad is so strong already in all departments that it could be argued it is unparalleled on the European scene.
You had Lewandowski coming in upfront after he was rested for Bayern's 6-0 win over Werder Bremen on Saturday. He scored his team's third and played a beautiful pass in behind Ashley Cole to tee up Robben for the fourth. In defence Benatia was back to successfully stifle his former club's attack.
With the score at 5-1 and the Germans having slowed their efforts considerably, Guardiola brought on Rafinha, Ribery and Shaqiri. Cue a second, albeit briefer rampage on the Roma goal.
Ribery made it six with an exquisite chip, and Shaqiri made it seven with a less extravagant but nonetheless well-taken goal. Both had chances to add even further to the lead in the final 10 minutes as the exhausted Roma defence were torn apart.
This is a Roma team who have proved their worth under Rudi Garcia over the last 18 months. Here they could not keep up with the options coming at them from all positions and all points of the match.
Better teams than them will struggle against Bayern Munich too.
Roma's Old Class Is Not Enough to Match Europe's Best
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Francesco Totti's equaliser at Manchester City served to remind those who had lost track of him in Roma's absence from the Champions League that the old playmaker was still around. More than that, it suggested he could still have an influence on club football's biggest stage.
In Roma's 3-0 win over Chievo last Saturday, Totti was typically integral. He guided a lovely ball forward to set up Adem Ljajic for their second then scored the penalty that sealed the win. Later on he was withdrawn with Bayern Munich in mind.
Sadly, the visit of the Germans showed that, at 38, there is only so far Totti's talent carries them anymore. He was nonexistent as the visitors raced into a 5-0 half-time lead, swamped repeatedly by the marauding white shirts.
Totti was not the only one of the Giallorossi's elder statesmen to be rendered ineffective.
Morgan De Sanctis (37) was fired on all night in goal. Daniele De Rossi (31) did not win a single tackle in midfield, neither did Cole (33) at left-back (per Squawka). The defender was ruthlessly exposed by the speed and skill of Robben for both the Dutchman's goals.
As disappointing as Roma's veterans were, them getting on in years was not the main problem (even if their younger selves might have been more competitive).
The imperious Bayern midfielder Xabi Alonso is 32. At 30 and 31 respectively, Robben and Ribery are not young anymore (though their continued high level suggests that hardly matters).
The difference was the young players around them are that much better than Roma's. This is hardly revelatory given the World Cup and title winners among the Munich group.
But given Roma's recent form in Serie A, and in their return to the Champions League (thrashing CSKA Moscow, drawing with Manchester City), there was a hope the quality was there to at least compete with Europe's best.
Not so it seems; not yet anyway. There is only so much they are going to be able to rely on Totti and Co. to help them out with.
Roma Will Need More Like Gervinho If They Are to Go Far This Year
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Roma boss Garcia commendably looked to take the blame away from his embarrassed team post-match.
"I am the first one who made the mistake, it is not the fault of the players, the first half approach was my fault entirely," he told Sky Sport Italia, via Football Italia. "It was the wrong strategy, we should’ve been more closed up and try to hit them on the counter-attack."
Garcia reflected his side's response of trying to take the game to the away side after their goals "played into Bayern’s hands. We were too eager to get it back on track and left spaces that Bayern took advantage of."
This was true. But it was also a style issue as much as a strategical one.
There are times for getting the likes of Pjanic and Totti on the ball, passing through De Rossi and Radja Nainggolan. The patience such players can provide would have been useful in keeping hold of the ball. Attempted as it was trying to break into the Bayern half, it left vacant too much space when they were invariably hunted down.
Where Roma had some joy getting through the German lines was with the directness of Gervinho.
The attacker led the response following Robben's opener when the home side came close to grabbing an equaliser—Manuel Neuer doing particularly well to save from the Ivory Coast international after 10 minutes.
Gervinho was their only real threat in the remainder of the dismal first half. After the interval, there were periods when he alone seemed to be trying to avoid an embarrassment. His 66th-minute-headed goal was a just reward for his efforts.
The lesson for Garcia might be, should Roma progress beyond the group stage, that he could need to invest in another player or two capable of providing similar penetration.
There is a place for Roma's passing football, but it needs the option of directness to keep them alive when they are required to hold back a little.
Bayern Will Top Group E Comfortably
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With Manchester City being held to a 2-2 draw by CSKA Moscow, Bayern comfortably top Group E with nine points, which is five ahead of their vanquished Tuesday opponents, Roma.
Coming up against the previously well-regarded Serie A team was seen as a genuine test for Guardiola's men. But after putting seven past them on their own pitch, it is hard to see them not winning with similar conviction back at the Allianz Arena.
The trip to Manchester next month could prove reasonably tough with Manuel Pellegrini's side likely to be desperate for a result to qualify. But with a home banker against CSKA to follow, Bayern can afford to drop points and not worry.
The 2012 European champions are just about a certainty to march into the knockout stage now. Guardiola will not take this likelihood for granted, but he would also be disappointed if they did not finish the group with the same self-belief they have thus far shown.
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