Bayern Munich opened their Bundesliga campaign with a 5-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart at the Allianz Arena on Thursday evening. The result placed the hosts at the top of the table after one match, while the visitors dropped to eighteenth place with zero points. It was a result that spoke more to the gulf in resources than anything else.
Bayern took the lead in the twenty-first minute when D. Upamecano found the net. Stuttgart responded with a goal of their own through J. Vagnoman in the fifty-second, and then compounded the confusion when Vagnoman turned the ball into his own goal just three minutes later. To be fair, the visitors refused to go away entirely, but they lacked the composure to handle the pressure.
M. Olise thought he had added a second for Bayern in the fifty-fifth, but a VAR check for offside cancelled the goal in the sixty-third minute. He tried again moments later, only for the referee to rule it out once more. And here's the thing — those two disallowed goals felt like they shifted something in the room, even if the crowd didn't notice. A. Pavlovic finally broke through in the eighty-second, and L. Diaz added two in stoppage time to seal the result.
The match saw plenty of movement at the back. Bayern made substitutions for N. Brown, T. Tomas, D. Pejcinovic, A. Davies, D. Undav, J. Chabot, A. Pavlovic, H. Kane, Kim Min-Jae, and A. Stiller across the final third. Stuttgart's manager tried to steady the ship, but the wheels came off around the hour mark.
Bayern dominated the numbers. They held 59 per cent possession, created seven big chances, and registered an expected goals figure of 4.06. Stuttgart, by contrast, managed only 0.79 xG from two big chances. The hosts recorded nine shots on target compared to four, and their 19 key passes told the story of a team that ran the show.
It was a result that left Stuttgart with work to do, and Bayern with a message sent. The hosts sit top of the table with three points from a single game, while the visitors are already looking at a difficult season. By then, the narrative would be written.
