Bayern Munich Dominate Stuttgart with 5-1 Victory
Bayern Munich absorbed Stuttgart’s early storm, then ripped them apart with the kind of cold, relentless finishing that turns tight games into hammerings.
The champions ran out 5-1 winners, a scoreline that flattered only one side – and, according to Stuttgart’s own captain, could easily have been even worse.
“We gave everything from the start,” Bayern midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic told Sky at full-time. “It is often the case against Stuttgart that they fade a little in the middle of the second half and no longer have quite as much energy. That was the case again today. And we just keep going, never stop and always score our goals.”
Stuttgart start brave, Bayern turn brutal
VfB Stuttgart came out swinging. For 15 minutes they went toe-to-toe, pressing high, playing with courage, refusing to be overawed. The champions were pushed back, forced to feel their way into the contest.
Then the grip tightened.
Bayern took control of possession, pinned Stuttgart deeper, and struck first. In the 21st minute, Dayot Upamecano found the breakthrough, and with that the pattern of the afternoon shifted. The visitors’ bright start suddenly felt like a distant memory.
Stuttgart refused to fold, though, and they earned their reward straight after the interval. In the 52nd minute, Josha Vagnoman levelled, a surprise equaliser that briefly cracked open the game and jolted the Allianz Arena.
Any hope of a turning point vanished almost immediately.
The pressure told. Within three minutes, Michael Olise restored Bayern’s lead in the 55th minute. Three minutes after that, disaster for Stuttgart: Vagnoman, the scorer at one end, turned the ball into his own net in the 58th minute. From 1-1 to 3-1 in the blink of an eye. The contest, as a contest, was gone.
Late on, Bayern simply turned the screw. Pavlovic made it 4-1 in the 82nd minute, then Luis Diaz added the final flourish in stoppage time (90+2) to complete a ruthless 5-1.
Undav’s brutal verdict: “Eight or nine”
If anyone needed a measure of Bayern’s dominance, Deniz Undav provided it with striking honesty.
“If Fabi (Bredlow, VfB goalkeeper) had not had such an outstanding day today, you would have conceded eight or nine here,” Stuttgart’s new captain told Sky. “They play out their chances right to the end, while we had four or five situations from which chances could have arisen, but in which we made the wrong decisions.”
For Undav, the reality of these fixtures is clear.
The two matches against Bayern, he said, are “bonus games in the season. Unfortunately, it became so clear-cut,” lamented the Germany international striker.
Bredlow’s performance, in that context, was not consolation. It was damage limitation.
Lights out at half-time – literally
As if the scoreline was not strange enough, Stuttgart had to deal with a bizarre twist during the break. The lights went out.
Quite literally.
At half-time, parts of the stadium were hit by what appeared to be a power cut. VfB coach Sebastian Hoeneß confirmed the odd interruption afterwards.
“There was no more light, but it was still bright enough, we could still see each other, we did not trip over. So everything was fine,” Hoeneß said with a hint of dry humour.
Then he turned back to the football, and the tone hardened.
“We have to improve, no question. Bayern will still beat many other teams here, probably by an even bigger margin than us, but we still have to have the ambition to play better.”
The message was clear: Bayern’s class is acknowledged, but Stuttgart’s standards must rise.
Bayern, meanwhile, walk away with another heavy win, more goals, more authority. If this is them still building rhythm, the question for the rest of the league is stark: who can live with them when they really hit full speed?
