RB Leipzig Rout Shows Bayern Munich Need to Play Motivation Game

Midway through the first half, the Bayern Munich fans put up a banner that read "against modern football." They were no doubt referring to something else, but it was appropriate all the same as their heroes turned the clock back to seasons past, when rivals who thought they might have a chance of matching them were simply blown away.

Borussia Dortmund suffered that fate last season. This time around, RB Leipzig had their collars felt in the same manner in which Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller and Co. strode imperiously across the playgrounds of German football in the 1970s like Dickensian headmasters, dishing out the odd caning or three.

On Wednesday night at the Allianz Arena, it was once more men against boys—and not simply by virtue of the Bundesliga's oldest squad schooling the German top-flight's youngest. Modern football? Bah humbug!

"Even with our best performance, it would have been really difficult," noted Leipzig coach Ralph Hasenhuttl, whose side resembled a primary school outfit as it conceded three times in the opening 30 minutes, per Bayern's official website. "We didn't defend together as we are able to do. That meant it was a lesson for us."

Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

Regarding lessons, it seems Bayern boss Carlo Ancelotti has learned his. After all but permanently nailing a 4-3-3 formation to his chalkboard, he has used 4-2-3-1 in the last five games in all competitions. The result: five wins, 13 goals scored and one conceded. As he had been against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, Thiago Alcantara was used as the No. 10 in the three behind striker Robert Lewandowski when Bayern were in possession, dropping into a more defensive role when they did not.

Admittedly, Emil Forsberg's first-half dismissal rendered Leipzig more toothless than they might have otherwise been, but it once again looked both a creative and solid strategy that Ancelotti should continue to employ for matches in which he suspects his side might be stretched at times.

However, the game also taught everyone the lesson that you rile Bayern at your peril; when they are motivated, they are a fearsome prospect.

The man who bankrolled Leipzig's climb from the fifth tier to top flight in just seven years, Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, had set out European qualification as "the minimum objective" before the game, per Abend Zeitung, suggesting the upstarts had designs on ending Bayern's four-year stranglehold on the Bundesliga's "salad bowl" trophy.

It marked quite a change from the energy-drink mogul's lesser hope of "establishing ourselves in the top league" before the season kicked off, per Abend Zeitung.

Though that undoubtedly rankled Bayern, there was also the sense of anticipation among German football fans. As much as Leipzig are looked down upon as uncultured nouveau riche with no history, supporters across the country were curious as to whether they could provide a challenge to Bayern. And Ancelotti's players were all too aware of that.

"The whole of Germany watched this game and had been looking forward to it," captain Philipp Lahm acknowledged, per Bayern's official website, no doubt conscious of the schadenfreude non-Bayern fans would have enjoyed in light of a home defeat.

He continued: "We wanted to lay down a marker before the winter break, and that's what we did, especially in the first half. The most important thing was that we showed from the off that Leipzig could not get anything out of this."

There was a notable determination Bayern, with pace and aggression mixed with prodigious talent. It was a potent blend. That they collectively ran just 160 metres fewer than their opponents despite having a massive 76 per cent possession and outshooting Leipzig 24 to four is a clear indication of that.

Everyone in Germany, and notably Leipzig, saw what that can result in. But we have already seen what can happen when Bayern are not quite as motivated, when they do not have the vast majority of a nation gleefully rubbing their hands at the prospect of them getting what they consider to be deserved comeuppance.

The devastating response Ancelotti's men, suitably fired up, provided is undoubtedly worrying for Arsenal, who will face Bayern in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League. With many fans and pundits tipping the Gunners to finally end their Champions League jinx and win through to the quarter-finals at the seventh time of asking, it is just the sort of position that the megastars of the Allianz Arena will relish. The "false underdog," perhaps.

What Ancelotti needs to look at is how to spice up his side in the buildup to games such as that against opponents like Darmstadt 98. Leipzig's ambition, however misguided, gave Bayern more room to work in, but there was a distinct lack of verve in the 1-0 win that would have been a goalless draw but for Douglas Costa's wand of a left foot conjuring a magical winner against Darmstadt.

Bayern cannot afford to slack off—for all the difference on the pitch on Wednesday, there are still only three points between Bayern and Leipzig.

Ancelotti's claim that "the first 30 minutes were perfect", per the official website, was not entirely accurate. Yussuf Poulsen was a stud's length away from putting Leipzig ahead in the first couple of minutes, while Willi Orban's header needed a sharp near-post save from Manuel Neuer. Still, as Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge stated, per his club's official website: "We're looking optimistically to the future."

As Leipzig fluffed their lines in this Christmas play, Mats Hummels' peroxide blond hair provided the biggest surprise of the evening. The Germany international, who was forced into sporting the look after losing an Oktoberfest game, stated, per Bild: "It looks good in the right light."

So do Bayern on the right night.