Five Observations from Bayern Munich's off script 4-2 win over ...

After being eliminated by Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB-Pokal, Bayern Munich rebounded with a satisfying 4-2 win over 16th-placed Heidenheim. Four different Bayern players delivered the assists, while Jamal Musiala played the dual role of super sub and hero.

Bayern’s 82% possession was the club’s highest output of the season, but Heidenheim battled back to score goals on their only two chances of the match. Bayern’s four goals on 2.36 xG looked efficient on the stat sheet but Bayern completed missed the target in a variety of ways.

In the end, Bayern secured the necessary result and added two points to its Bundesliga lead, thanks to Augsburg grinding out a 2-2 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Tagline: Just keep swimming...

Over the past six games, Bayern’s offense has only scored multiple goals once. The build-up has lacked creativity, aggression, and a sense of purpose. Without the services of Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala in the first half, Vincent Kompany’s squad was in desperate need of some fresh ideas.

From the opening whistle, the entire offense abandoned the rigid positions and began flowing freely. At one point, Alphonso Davies and Raphaël Guerreiro were sitting at the top of the box, Aleksandar Pavlović was on the left wing, and Michael Olise was collecting the ball deep from the center backs.

For the first 30 minutes, the offense played a relentless one-touch passing game that kept the ball moving everywhere around the pitch, wearing down the opposition. Heidenheim didn’t have any real answers, forfeiting 86% of possession and just throwing bodies in the way.

Unfortunately, Bayern’s lack of finishing plagued them again. Leroy Sané missed three golden opportunities, Alphonso Davies was stymied by the near post, and Olise failed to register a shot. Luckily, the mental aspect of the game exhausted Heidenheim and Dayot Upamecano was able to power in a free header off a corner kick, generated by a simple pick play from Thomas Müller.

Tagline: Stupid is as stupid does.

It’s been a while since Upamecano provided some comic relief. In the 50th minute, the Bayern defense quickly closed down another Heidenheim attack. Davies deflected the ball out of the passing lane and Upamecano just needed to play the ball out of danger.

Instead, Upamecano played a poor pass into no man’s land. Mathias Honsak calmly dribbled around a helpless Daniel Peretz and evened the score. Before Kompany could yell “CUT!”, all of Bayern’s first half domination was discarded.

Tagline: First rule of magic: always be the smartest person in the room.

After Upamecano’s goal in the first half, Bayern’s attack slowed down the hectic pace and went into cruise control mode. Bayern saw out the half, pleased with the 1-0 lead that could have easily been a few more.

With the audience in a lull, the director inserted some star power: Musiala the Magician.

In the 56th minute, Musiala received a ball in the middle of the pitch, turned toward the top of the box, and fired a powerful shot into the bottom corner. Just like that, the good guys reclaimed the advantage.

Tagline: My favorite kind of joke, one which ends in a bang.

Just when the match appeared to be limping over the finish line, the players had different ideas. In the 84th minute, Leon Goretzka’s deflected shot bounced awkwardly into the back of the net. Just a minute later, Léo Scienza weaved through the Bayern defense and found Niklas Dorsch all alone for a freebie to bring the margin back to a single goal.

Heidenheim pressed high and hard for the rest of the match but the Bayern defense held strong, giving the hero Musiala a breakaway to complete his brace in stoppage time and save the day.

Tagline: Just because everybody hates [Bayern] doesn’t mean it’s not good!

Ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash, Shakhtar Donetsk hired Gru and his minions to booby trap the Bayern fan section at Arena AufSchalke. Sitting in 26th place, Shakhtar is fighting to avoid elimination. Pulling off the upset in the German stadium will be a tall task, as Bayern’s squad has found a groove in 1-0 Champions League wins over Benfica and PSG.

Looking for more thoughts and analysis on Bayern Munich’s somewhat wild and somewhat odd 4-2 victory over Heidenheim? Great, then check out our Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show on Patreon, Spotify, or below:

Be sure to stay tuned to Bavarian Podcast Works for all of your up to date coverage on Bayern Munich and Germany. Check us out on Patreon and follow us on Twitter @BavarianFBWorks, @BavarianPodcast @TheBarrelBlog, @BFWCyler, @IredahlMarcus, @2012nonexistent, @TommyAdams71 and more.