Advantage Liverpool despite home draw against Bayern Munich

After a frenetic night at Anfield Liverpool and Bayern Munich shared the spoils. However, it’s the Reds that have the edge in the Champions League tie.

Conventional wisdom would lead many to believe that failing to win their home leg leaves the Reds as underdogs to quality for the next round.

In a lot of ways that makes sense. They need to travel to Munich and get either a win or score draw to go through.

However, it’s the importance of the latter that tips the balance ever so slightly in favor of Jurgen Klopp’s side. ANY score draw is enough to take them through.

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This season is the last in which the away goals rule will remain in effect in the competition, but it could be critical here. Bayern’s failure to get one should put Liverpool in the driving seat as any Liverpool goal in Germany really puts Munich up against it.

The natural inclination of a home side is to be the one attacking, at least unless the team is managed by Jose Mourinho. Niko Kovac’s players will be under pressure to press forward in the Allianz-Arena in a few weeks.

The issue for them is, Liverpool are perhaps at their most dangerous when their opponents push forward and allow space for fast transitions. As a result, Bayern are caught between a rock and a hard place.

Do they go all out and trust that they can simply outscore the Reds? It’s a risky business not only because Liverpool have a decent defensive record, but because Bayern don’t.

Die Roten have been surprisingly susceptible to conceding goals from counter attacks this season, something that could play directly into Klopp’s hands.

Despite some dangerous looking wing play, ultimately Bayern failed to test a back line that contained fourth and fifth choice center-backs. They recorded a whopping zero shots on target.

Kovac will argue that his side put in a performance that highlights the true experience his players have. Though ultimately they stopped the likes of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, and  Sadio Mane, they also probably should have made a better attempt at picking up a goal.

Liverpool were fielding a weakened back four, yet their opponents had no intention of trying to exploit this. This is perhaps a sign of how far this Klopp side has come. Even with an unrecognizable defense, heavyweights like Bayern are too scared to attempt anything other than sitting back and playing for a draw.

On another night we could be sat here discussing how another European giant fell to an Anfield defeat, but the ball simply wouldn’t quite fall for the Reds on this occasion.

The performance was both good and frustrating in equal measure, though overall Liverpool did enough to have confidence they can go to Germany and progress to the next round.

The Reds hardly ever do things the easy way. At this point you certainly can’t rule out them stealing an unlikely victory if indeed Bayern push too hard themselves.