Bayern Munich, no longer married to a philosophy, has multiple ways to win

When Bayern Munich beat PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday, you could be forgiven for not thinking it was the most exciting match. It wasn’t. What it was, however, was a sign of Bayern’s development under Carlo Ancelotti, which should have most of their European rivals very worried.

Bayern have stopped worrying about playing pretty. They’ve stopped feeling like they have to play a particular style for a particular match. Now they’re just out to win, no matter what it takes or how it looks.

Under Pep Guardiola, Bayern were often constrained to a certain style and approach for a given match. If that style didn’t work, Guardiola was loathe to change it until things hit desperation mode. Ancelotti, however, is more adaptable, and while he has a certain vision for every match to be sure, he’s also more concerned with getting three points than sticking to that vision.

That pragmatism was on display against PSV on Tuesday, when an uneven start from Bayern saw the Dutch team take an early lead in the match. When PSV went to a more defensive stance to protect the advantage, Bayern changed their approach and even adjusted their shape multiple times in 20 minutes, throwing a wide variety of things at their opponents. In the end, they settled on a width-heavy approach, trying to wear down fullbacks unsupported by a very narrow midfield.

It worked. It earned them a penalty to equalize in the first half, and while it took a long time, it let Bayern find their winner late in the match. They never looked like conceding again, either. With the energy and creative quality of Douglas Costa and Kingsley Coman on as substitutes after the hour mark, there was little PSV could do to keep Bayern at bay for 90 minutes.

And that’s how Bayern wanted this match to go. They set out to wear down their opponents over time. Once they settled in, they were playing the long game, knowing they’d win in the end. Instead of trying to force the issue and overpower their opponents like we’ve seen from them in previous years, Ancelotti’s Bayern is a more patient beast, playing smarter instead of riskier. It fits their current roster well, and while many critics may decry matches like this as boring, Bayern’s record of just one loss in competitive action this season shows that boring works. Boring wins games.

Bayern still have fun when the game calls for a more energetic approach, make no mistake, but they’re just as happy grinding a game like we saw on Tuesday in the Netherlands. Ancelotti has his team fine tuned and playing in utterly dominant form. As long as they can stay hungry and stay adaptable like we’ve seen so far this season, there’s little reason to expect them to falter.

After a few years of a rigid system under Jupp Heynckes, followed by the ultra-fluid stylings of Guardiola, Bayern has landed on Ancelotti, a manager who knows how to adapt his tactics from game to game. Bayern is built well for that approach, and it’ll probably lead them to trophies.