Bayern Munich Masters of Their Own Demise in Manchester City Debacle

Bayern Munich dropped points for the first time in the Champions League this season on Tuesday as they were beaten 3-2 by Manchester City in a roller-coaster ride of a game at the Etihad Stadium.

Despite going a goal and a man down early on, the Bavarians dominated much of the match. Yet it would be some careless errors that would see their perfect record in Group E come to an end.

Having already won their group after four matchdays, and having been forced to manage with an extensive list of injured stars, the Bavarian giants were by no means runaway favorites. Lacking intrinsic motivation from what was essentially a dead-rubber match, and while using reserves like Sebastian Rode and Pierre Hojbjerg, Bayern had weaknesses for City to exploit.

And indeed, despite the visitors' dominance in the opening stages, City were put firmly in the driver's seat on 20 minutes following Mehdi Benatia's sending off and Sergio Aguero's conversion of a penalty goal.

The manner in which Bayern conceded appeared ominous. Benatia being beaten for pace on a long ball over the top was reminiscent of Pep Guardiola's earlier days at the club as well as Louis van Gaal's tenure.

It was a tactical regression to the times when the ball-playing benefits of playing a high offside trap were considered more important than the glaring weakness created by there being acres of space between the midfield and defensive lines. But it didn't take long for the visitors to turn it all around.

A huge takeaway from the match that will not be remembered as much as Aguero's hat trick or Bayern's implosion was the fact that the visitors played quite comfortably despite being down a man for 70 minutes.

On the one hand, the German giants were hardly fazed by what could have been a crippling turn of events for most clubs, losing a player and going a goal behind. On the other hand, City's mental fragility appeared to be their undoing. It was a combination of these two factors, the demonstration of the gulf in confidence and mental resolve to perform at such a high level, that made the difference. Until the closing minutes, that is.

City should have been in full control after going ahead but instead were only able to match Bayern. Yet the visitors were ruthless, punishing the English side at their first opportunity.

When awarded a free-kick near the penalty box, Xabi Alonso stepped up and fired the ball into the lower-right corner of Joe Hart's net. It was a demoralizing goal for City on a number of levels, the shot resembling a pass as not a single player among the hosts' ranks even reacted to the the ball as it skipped past them and into the net. More misery for the side that has in recent years struggled to justify their tag as an elite football club, at least based on Champions League performance.

Bayern would go into half-time ahead thanks to another very simple goal from Robert Lewandowski, who nodded in a cross. On the surface, it was an ordinary goal. But it was scored from a perfect cross and a perfect header; again, City were mostly powerless to do anything to impact their fate. Again, hugely demoralizing.

Yet fate would turn in the hosts' favor, and, if City weren't willing to do much to help themselves as a team, Bayern—as earlier in Benatia's entirely unnecessary red card—were prepared to lend them a lifeline. Alonso, who celebrated his 33rd birthday Tuesday, made a rookie mistake in having a routine back-pass intercepted before Aguero broke forward to equalize. At the death, Jerome Boateng was unable to softly take the ball off his chest and conceded the ball to the Argentine, who promptly completed his hat trick.

Tuesday's result had the bizarre effect of being unacceptable for both sides. For Bayern, each goal conceded was completely avoidable. And to have a 2-1 lead overturned in the final five minutes is embarrassing, even when down a man and away from home.

From City's perspective, being comprehensively outplayed for over an hour while at home and facing 10 men in a must-win match cannot be considered acceptable. They didn't earn their three points; Aguero did with plenty of help from Benatia, Alonso and Boateng.

Bayern's bizarre loss has no effect on their status in Group E, which they've already won by a minimum of four points. But it should be a wake-up call that no team is ever safe with 80 minutes of good football and that opponents who are good enough (like Aguero) will take advantage of the little mistakes Bayern can get away with from time to time in domestic competitions.

The good news is that Bayern have received their warning now, in a match that is ultimately of little value to them, rather than later on in the Champions League. It's a match that, like the 3-1 loss to BATE two years ago, proved that Bayern are made of mere mortals and always have some room for improvement.

Bayern improved after the BATE loss and won the treble half a year later. If Bayern can do the same in 2014-15, Tuesday's defeat will only be a distant memory.

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