Reina Dismissal Sees Pep Guardiola Plan for Bayern Munich Backfire vs. Augsburg

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola took a hailstorm of criticism following Wednesday's 3-0 Champions League loss to Barcelona but entered Saturday's fixture against Augsburg with the right ideas in mind. Or at least it seemed so based on his starting lineup.

The Spaniard, who'd rested almost his entire first team last weekend in preparation for the Barca clash, made just four changes to the lineup he'd used at Camp Nou. Among those changes, it's easily foreseeable that two (Mario Gotze and Mitchell Weiser) may start the second leg. Despite having already clinched the Bundesliga title, he showed Augsburg respect.

It was a good decision for Guardiola to start a strong lineup. Bayern will need a miracle to overcome Barca in the second leg, and having lost two consecutive games, their confidence was at a low. Playing a first team risked injuries and induced some fatigue, but his superstars have all been rotated in recent weeks; they haven't been overloaded. Victory in a very winnable derby, with Gotze, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller all having a chance to return to scoring ways, was a worthwhile pursuit.

Things didn't go according to script, however. It took just 13 minutes for one of the few reserves, Pepe Reina, to receive his marching orders for a foul judged to have prevented a clear goalscoring opportunity. Manuel Neuer was substituted on for Philipp Lahm, and Bayern were forced to play with 10 men. That meant more running for every Bayern outfielder for the remaining 77 minutes, with just two further substitutions allowed.

Reina will rightly take blame for coming off his line and being late to the ball, but in his sending off, there was revealed a tactical mistake. Inexplicably, the same tactic that had left Bayern exposed against Barca had beaten them again. Early in Wednesday's match, Luis Suarez found himself one-on-one against Neuer after Lionel Messi had flicked a long ball into space behind the Bayern defense. It was simple yet devastating because the Bayern back three had been playing approximately level with the halfway line.

On Saturday, Bayern's back four were on the halfway line following a goal-kick. It was a situation that didn't take a Barca-caliber team to execute; a simple flick into empty space was all that was needed. Bayern are still not often beaten in such situations, owing to Neuer's world-class ability to play the sweeper role and make one-on-one saves when the ball is out of his reach. Reina is a good goalkeeper, but it's situations like the one that saw him sent off on Saturday that underline his status as a class below Neuer.

If Guardiola had intended to help his players gain some confidence, it didn't work. Augsburg spurned three clear chances in the first half—one from the penalty spot—and Dante was fortunate not to receive a second yellow card (or straight red) after pulling Raul Bobadilla from behind. Bayern clawed their way back into the game and had a several good chances of their own, but the likes of Lewandowski, Gotze, Muller and company were unable to convert and grab that extra ounce of confidence.

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Last time Bayern lost four games in a row - including Dortmund cup loss? 1977 - when they lost five games in a row. #FCBayern #dwbundesliga

— Alex Chaffer (@AlexChaffer) May 9, 2015"

Things went from bad to worse for Bayern as the visitors eventually earned a deserved win after hitting their hosts on the counter-attack. Bayern loanee Pierre Hojbjerg executed his quick break with precision and pace before crossing for Bobadilla to backheel cheekily into the net.

Saturday's loss won't have any effect on the outcome of Bayern's Bundesliga campaign and, on its own, isn't exactly the end of the world, but it represents a missed opportunity and a frustrating recurrence of problems that have haunted their season. Individual mistakes have cost Bayern again and again, but in this case (and many others), a tactical strain made the error possible and gave Reina the opportunity to make a mistake.

Bayern were always going to enter Tuesday's return leg against Barca with a mountain to climb, and Guardiola had good intentions to give his team a bit more hope by trying his best to win the derby. In the end, however, the result was a fourth consecutive match in which they came out on the losing side. With another defeat and their scoreless run at over six hours, plus a bit more fatigue, their Everest has become a bit steeper.

@Mr_Bundesliga