Why the Defence Is the Biggest Issue Facing Bayern Munich After Wolfsburg Game

In beating Bayern Munich, 4-1, on Friday night, Wolfsburg proved that the Bavarian champions still haven't overcome their tendency to concede against strong, precise, counter-attacking teams. 

Although the match will probably have little effect on where the Bundesliga trophy will end up in May, it will offer itself as a timely reminder to Pep Guardiola and his critics that this system he's implemented is still vulnerable against capable opposition. 

The use of Kevin De Bruyne as a roaming playmaker against the likes of the slow and ageing Xabi Alonso and Dante was a smart ploy by Dieter Hecking that worked wonders whenever Wolfsburg had the opportunity to coherently move their way up the park with two or three long passes.

In De Bruyne, the Wolves have a player who can confidently take a first touch, hold up the ball if need be and then either take on his man or play in a colleague with exquisite finesse. No other player in the Bundesliga sets up goals quite like the young Belgium international, and Bayern simply didn't do enough to stop him. 

Under Guardiola, Bayern have hiked their back line up to the point of essentially standing on the halfway line with defenders like Dante who simply cannot compete with attacking opponents who possess even the most modest amounts of pace.

The former Barcelona coach spends so much time addressing how his side can break opponents down—playing David Alaba in midfield, trying Franck Ribery out as a No. 10, playing Philipp Lahm as a playmaker—but doesn't seem too worried about how team defends on the break, and it showed on Friday night.

The real fear for Bayern fans is what this may lead to in more important games down the road. Of course, no fan of the Munich side wants to see them losing such games in the league, but should such a performance undo a potential Champions League title, then heads may begin to roll. 

This is, of course, far from a distinct possibility for Bayern; it's already happened before under their new, promising manager. 

Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Last season, we saw a fledgling Guardiola side dominate all before them in European competition before coming up against a Real Madrid side who had every intention of breaking them down as Wolfsburg did last night: with swift, effective counter-attacks. 

With a 1-0 lead already intact from the first leg, Carlo Ancelotti prepped his Madrid side to sit in and hit Bayern on the break in the return leg at the Allianz Arena. Guardiola opted for an attacking 4-1-4-1 formation that night—not unlike the side that faced off with Wolfsburg on Friday night—and his side duly got thumped 4-0 in front of their own fans.

The Bayern bigwigs took a moment to regather their thoughts, put the result down to Guardiola's side still learning to their new system and looked forward to a more comprehensive effort next season. Yet, it doesn't look as though this side has learned from their previous mistakes. 

Should Bayern come up against the Madrid side again—or any other team just as capable, such as Barcelona or Chelsea—then we may see a similar result following the exact same line of tactics and formation from the Catalan manager. 

The German champions may be far from any form of crisis, but this defensive line simply isn't any better than the one that fell apart when it mattered most last April. Unless Guardiola fixes this now, then we can expect a similar result in the Champions League this season.

@Sbienkowski