Manuel Neuer
Already owns a few Bundesliga records (among other things, the most clean sheets against the same opponent, 17 against Hertha BSC, note.) but the record he set with the 3-2 win against Leipzig is worth mentioning again: Neuer is now the Bundesliga player with the most wins. With number 310 he draws level with Oliver Kahn. And since FC Bayern will probably win another game by the end of the season, it will soon be the sole record holder. On his heels is Thomas Müller (see there), whose count now stands at 296 – so in order to keep the record, Neuer should mainly not get seriously injured.
Showed against Leipzig that he is worthy of the title, Dani Olmo failed twice early on Neuer’s reflexes (photo), he was powerless with the first goal, with the second Nkunku shot him disrespectfully through the legs. Retaliated with a save against a Szoboszlai shot and held a Forsberg rebound. By the way, Jupp Heynckes has the most Bundesliga victories as a player and coach with 518 – you still need goals in life.
Benjamin Pavard
Looked unhappy at the interim 2: 2 because Christopher Nkunku escaped him in a classic way. An argument in his defense: Leipzig had the ball free in midfield, in the situation you can only react as a defender. But Pavard reacted wrongly. And even when Leipzig conceded the first goal (photo), he wasn’t there to fend off a ball, although the same applies here: As a defender, you quickly don’t look good.
Niklas Sule
What a week. Had to listen to a lot, especially from his ex-boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who via sports image called a “useful” player who “never really caught on”. One could not only discuss it in view of the 159 games for FC Bayern, but it is certain that Süle will leave the club in the summer. There would have been “certain limitations”, said CEO Oliver Kahn before the game and specified that it was “also about the money”. Of course nobody expected that.
Against Leipzig, Süle played very well in the center of defence, playing two or three more than useful passes forward. Looked a little unhappy on the first goal conceded trying to scrape the ball off the line, but you can only really blame him if you’re intentionally blaming him. Presumably prevented the 3:3 with his wide cross against Forsberg. By the way, Julian Nagelsmann said before the game as clearly as you can say as a Bayern coach that he would have liked to have kept Süle.
Lucas Hernández
Unobtrusive performance by the defender, whose transfer (€80m transfer fee) had no “limits”. But then there was no corona crisis. Got yellow early (22nd minute) for a tactical foul and probably left the field early for that reason. Dayot Upamecano came in for him.
Joshua Kimmich
During the week, Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) gave him the public offer to be vaccinated by him, and because Kimmich – completely surprisingly – does not want any more public attention about his vaccination status, he has not yet responded to this offer . Grooves slowly on the pitch, collects ball contacts and kilometers, not quite happy before the 2:2, but overall a solid game.
Corentin Tolisso
After Süle, the second of three players (see Serge Gnabry), who is currently the focus of contract speculation. At Tolisso it was the case that the club would not have implicitly opposed a farewell and now, after a few strong performances, would implicitly have nothing against an extension. One is “in talks,” said Kahn, but “there were always two of them”. Improved his negotiating position again against Leipzig. Strong ball win before 1-0, very nice pass before 2-1 – strictly speaking, lost the ball before Leipzig conceded, but Sané’s pass was also extremely sharp. Overall striking performance in a positive sense.
Serge Gnabry
Third player in contract poker, but in contrast to Süle and Tolisso, his contract runs until 2023. Gnabry, one can assume, will have noticed what Kingsley Coman’s signature was worth to the club and he will very likely be influenced by the performance and thus also see the salary level at the level of the French. Outcome of negotiations open. In any case, it didn’t give Leipzig any reasons to treat him worse. Aggressive pressing, good ball wins, good finishes, rewarded his committed game (third most ball contacts, unusual for wingers) with the goal to make it 3: 2, in which the stats have yet to decide whether to attribute it to Gnabry or count it as an own goal.
Thomas Müller
His contract (like that of Neuer and Lewandowski) also expires in 2023, but since his horse farm is proven to be just outside Munich, it’s even more difficult to imagine a change with him. And everything is going well right now – once again showed an above-average performance, which is becoming so normal for him that, strictly speaking, it can no longer be called above-average. Scored one goal, scored another disallowed goal (Lewandowski fouled in the process) and left the field very satisfied.
Leroy Sane
In the 3-2-4-1 system, he was part of what is probably the most offensive back four in the world and, like the other three, had the task of immediately counterpressing when the ball was lost. That would have been an adventurous undertaking in the past, but the Sané of today has very little in common with the Sané of the past when it comes to defensive discipline. Also allowed himself to celebrate before Thomas Müller’s goal, which was okay in this case (see picture above).
Kingsley Coman
If Jupp Heynckes (the one with the most Bundesliga wins) watched the game, he must have been very happy about a scene. Henyckes, as Coman once said himself, once advised him to slow down before crossing and first see where the ball should go. Coman still heeds the ex-coach’s advice to weigh speed against precision, perfectly visible in front of Robert Lewandowski’s goal, when Coman stopped, looked – and crossed exactly to the striker’s head.
Robert Lewandowski
During the week, he philosophized about the value of the two world footballer awards, the Ballon d’Or (which he didn’t win) and the Fifa World Player (which he did). He came to the conclusion that the Fifa world footballer was the better award. After all, not only journalists would vote, but also players and coaches who really had a clue. Scored a headed goal against Leipzig, the value of which is also recognized by journalists.
substitute
Jamal Musiala (for Tolisso), Dayot Upamecano (for Hernández), Marcel Sabitzer (for Mueller) and Tanguy Nianzou (for Coman) came on and after the game Nagelsmann explained that he simply didn’t want to take anyone out of the starting XI. Not a good time for supplement players.