Bayern Munich mark a year of Flick with six

RB Salzburg 2-6 Bayern Munich, Red Bull Arena
(Berisha 4', Okugawa 66' — Lewandowski 21' pen., 88', Kristensen o.g. 44', Boateng 79', Sané 83', Hernandez 90+1')

A year to the day since Hansi Flick stepped in as interim head coach for Bayern Munich, the treble winners sealed their 14th consecutive Champions League win.

While most of the talk around the club at the moment surrounds David Alaba's future, this was about Bayern taking another step to defending their European title.

Conceding inside the first four minutes was certainly a step back, as was conceding an equalizer just after the hour mark with the game firmly in the balance, but like most goals against Bayern of late, they give little more than the illusion of victory.

"I think for 75 minutes we went toe-to-toe with the best team in the world," Salzburg head coach Jesse Marsch said afterwards.

The problem for Salzburg was in the final 15 minutes, the efforts of the previous 75 caught up with them. "It was like a dam breaking," Marsch said.

Bayern turn the screw

Even in a game set for goals given the two teams' playing styles, Bayern sweeping home four in the final 11 minutes was just the latest example of the Bavarians flexing their ruthlessness against a tiring opposition. The addition of Leroy Sané — who scored a spectacular, curling effort — with 15 minutes to go helps.

In this form and under this coach, excellent individual performances have become a regular occurrence. Manuel Neuer made a couple of excellent saves, while Joshua Kimmich was as industrious as ever.

This somewhat wild win in a rainy and empty stadium in Salzburg was in some ways vintage Bayern. Granted, they missed a flurry of chances to finish the game earlier on, as is their usual preference, but the final flourish was proof that this side truly believes it can always win.

That is what 14 wins in a row does for your confidence. In truth, it's a lot more than that.

Flick ball

On November 6, 2019, just days after Niko Kovac departed, Flick stepped in as interim for Bayern's 2-0 Champions League group stage win against Olympiacos. Bayern took over an hour to score and caution from the Kovac reign lingered, but Bayern looked persistent. They might have only scored two, but they took 27 shots. This was an attacking side waiting to be unleashed.

Fast forward a year and it is clear they have been. Six goals in Salzburg just adds to numbers that make you look twice.

In a 48-game year of football under Flick that was accompanied by unprecedented change in the world, Bayern have won 44, scoring a stunning 160 goals, conceding just 41 and averaging an astounding 2.77 points per game.

Flick has made a team built on dominance even more assertive, taken both young and experienced players to the next level, and won it all in his first year.

If this is what one year of Flick looks like, it would be no surprise if Bayern fans voted for four more years.