Hertha demonstrate that the Bundesliga is no match for Bayern

Getting even a point against Bayern Munich is an excellent result any team in the Bundesliga. It’s a lot easier said than done, even for (supposed) title contenders like Borussia Dortmund, who can somewhat compete with Bayern from a financial standpoint. Bayern have the money -- revenues of over €528m, breaking the record they set last season -- to buy the world’s best, and that shows in trophy after trophy.

As we saw midweek, even a team like Manchester City is going to have a tough time with Bayern. Despite the fact that City also have infinite money, and had a man advantage for about 70 minutes, they were almost beaten by the Bavarians. Only a Sergio Agüero hat-trick saved last year’s Premier League champions.

The latest team to go up against the juggernaut was Hertha BSC, hosting Bayern on Matchday 13. Hertha, in 13th, are mid-table in about every aspect, not good enough to challenge for Europe, but they won’t really worry about relegation. The defence hasn’t been great, and while their attack has shown some positive signs they’ve mostly sputtered so far. Just like many teams in their position, they struggle against sides with prolific attacking talent. Against Bayer Leverkusen in August, they lost 4-2, despite lining up in a 5-2-2-1.

So maybe using more defenders isn’t the answer to stopping a great attack?

Protecting your goalkeeper is key. With the quality finishers game that Pep Guardiola’s side employs, it’s crucial to make sure that Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben, Mario Götze, and Thomas Müller aren’t afforded good opportunities. Even from 30 yards out. So while Jos Luhukay lined up his side in a 4-2-3-1, the attacking midfielders still had more than their fair share of defending to do.

Keeping Bayern scoreless for 90 minutes is nearly impossible. Against Hertha, Robben found the back of the net 27 minutes in, with a patented curling strike to the far side of the net. But Hertha didn’t get demoralized or lose focus, which is important, because one goal can easily turn into five.

Even if the Bavarian giants have already taken the lead, making your substitutions count is imperative. Chasing the ball around for 90 minutes will tire your side out, and when Bayern have over 70% of the ball, like they usually do, your side is going to be chasing it. Luhukay elected to remove his two most attack-minded players -- Julian Scheiber and Änis Ben-Hatira -- in favor of Salomon Kalou and Ronny. Still it wasn’t exactly a negative change, with two attackers coming on to replace the two that went off.

Hertha were chasing the game, but despite the uphill battle, they still knew to pick their moments carefully. An opportunity came on a corner kick, and the ball even hit the back of the net! Alas, it was offside and disallowed. The Berliners had another good opportunity when Kalou broke down the touchline in pursuit of a through ball, but a well-drilled Bayern backline played him offside, preventing a one-on-one situation between Kalou and Manuel Neuer.

In the end, Hertha were only able to muster five shots against Bayern. They allowed eleven, but just three of which were on target. Their valiant defending, even in a loss, means that although no points were collected, the goal difference hasn’t been damaged beyond repair, only suffering a drop of one. It’s hard to say that there are moral victories in professional sports, but if there are, only losing by one goal to Bayern Munich would be one.