Manuel Neuer
Is a specialist in defense measures, and if everyone had microscopic Neuers swimming in their blood, the devious coronavirus would always be caught immediately. The next best thing to do is to inject yourself with the vaccine. Which is why two of the unvaccinated people have been piqued. In any case, Neuer did not have to parry viruses, but balls. He did that well twice, and twice unaccustomedly shaky. Once hit a back pass from Goretzka, the ball spun against the post. Scrambled past the slapstick goal. Wanted to catch a ball, but let it ricochet and conceded another goal – the first Kiev goal in the Champions League season.
Benjamin Pavard
Had the uncomfortable away trip to Augsburg in the Bundesliga, where Bayern lost 2-1. Was received in Kiev by snowstorms and a temperature just below zero degrees. The cold apparently froze him in his defensive position. Was twice overrun, the subsequent dangerous flanks then defended Hernández. Thawed when he sent one of his famous long-range shots towards the goal, with which he forced a defensive leg from Kiev to submit to Robert Lewandowski. Moved to central defense after half-time and had plenty to do there too. Could only watch the goal conceded.
Tanguy Nianzou
Is almost as big a promise as the Curevac vaccine. But of course it doesn’t want to end like this. Is still only 19 years old and would have had a chance in the relatively insignificant group game if the regular players Süle (Corona) and Upamecano (yellow card suspension) had not been prevented. Did his thing for over 90 minutes without any major wobbles, even if he came a little too late when conceding. But then he was only the last man in a chain of errors. Still needs a sturdy scaffolding around him. Then injured his shoulder in a foul and had to be replaced.
Lucas Hernández
If it were a vaccine, it would trigger the most violent vaccination reactions. Cannot go into single fights in low doses. Vitaliy Buyalskyi, who felt the Frenchman’s studs in the penalty area shortly before half-time, also had to experience this. The referee, like the VAR, overlooked the kick on the foot. Luck for Hernández, who otherwise looked very alert and often gave the mend – like a vaccine for a patchy immune system. Was substituted at half time with a thigh problem. After that, the Bayern defense became more holey.
Alphonso Davies
Has spent large parts of his life in Canada so should be familiar with snow and cold. Despite his speed, it wasn’t a booster for the Bayern attack. Too many of his crosses and passes got stuck in the last third. Nowadays everything revolves around the quota.
Leon Goretzka
Had to do without his trusted partner Joshua Kimmich, who is unvaccinated in quarantine. Took over his mandate as the official ball distributor, which he initially did not always succeed in in the dense Kiev center. Then preferred to shine with defensive actions: Checked a Kiev player away like in ice hockey, cleared with a back pass straddle in dire need against Tsygankov. The ball still lands on the post because Neuer came by. Spurt also in the 88th minute to a clarifying tackle over half the place. Had to plug a lot of holes, which he didn’t always succeed in either. Looking forward to Kimmich’s return.
Corentin Tolisso
After several injury problems in the starting line-up for the first time in the Champions League. Should take on the big task of replacing Quarantine Kimmich right away. But initially it looked like a foreign body: Got a shot from Goretzka in the abdomen, tripped balls, played careless passes. Rehabilitated by submitting to Coman before the 2-0. Apparently filled his confidence tank from the action. Shortly afterwards with a dangerous shot. Then much more solid in all his actions, but not yet completely in the rhythm of the game. That was also evident when he conceded the goal when he missed closing the gap at the crucial moment.
Kingsley Coman
Against Augsburg malad with muscular problems. Apparently wanted to show against Kiev that such a defeat would not have happened to him. Spiked the Ukrainian defense with eager dribbles. There was no immunization, so Coman was able to score the 2-0 in the middle of the urge phase of Kiev with a laser-accurate shot, in which the snow flew from the bar and net. Was allowed to take it easy on the muscles after a little more than an hour. A precautionary measure so as not to provoke another injury.
Thomas Müller
Didn’t complain when he was injected with Bayern RNA (bRNA) from TSV Pähl over 20 years ago as a little boy. Has been the figurehead of his club ever since. As a so-called club icon, he ran into every visible and less visible gap even in the cold of Kiev. Müller just has a special look. Seeing that Coman was free behind his back when Tolisso fit in his direction. Because of this, I was ingeniously able to let the ball through. Sometimes the non-ball contacts are just as important as the ball contacts.
Leroy Sané
Was allowed to hang around in the center again. Works a lot backwards, which was also necessary because Kiev always seemed capable of a dangerous counterattack. Only appeared sporadically in the penalty area. In the second half the game missed him a bit. Replaced shortly before the final whistle.
Robert Lewandowski
Warmed the hearts of the Munich fans who traveled with him early on in the game: With a quick overhead kick, he scored the 1-0. If the German government were to react only half as quickly to the pandemic, there would be none. It was the right antidote after the league defeat and in adverse conditions. But limited to just one feat. The fans got cold again.
Substitute players
Bouna Sarr was the first of four field players on the Munich bench to be substituted on. He came on for Hernández and joined the defense on the right, which was not necessarily conducive to stability. Looked yellow shortly after being substituted on. Even Marc Roca was allowed to collect a few minutes again after a long downtime and brought almost all of his passes to the teammate. Malik Tilman was allowed to play in the Champions League for the first time and Omar Richards for the third time.