Sven Ulrich
Couldn’t believe it: everything about his body language (and probably his mouth too) said in the direction of Thomas Müller: “Boy, I was there. I would have had him” (see photo). well Could have easily caught a Leverkusen free kick cross – but Müllerthomas (see there) jumped in and steered the formerly harmless ball into Ulreich’s goal. Don’t do anything. Was there a moment later when he threw himself into a Charles Aranguiz shot. Was there just before the end when he blocked Frimpong’s shot. Saved his team from defeat.
Benjamin Pavard
Sometimes saves extremely tense scenes without much recollection, as against Leverkusen when he once decisively disrupted Florian Wirtz when he blocked a shot from Amine Adli shortly after the break and disrupted Moussa Diaby almost immediately afterwards. Did a lot of things right in this game, in which he also – it has to be said – had far too much to do for a Bayern defender in the home arena.
Niklas Sule
Wouldn’t this Süle be one for FC Bayern? German national player, only 26 years old, robust, fast, dangerous in front of goal – you can’t let Borussia Dortmund let you down, can you? Oh well. Before the game on Sky, Bayern’s CEO Oliver Kahn said when asked how he judged Süle’s apparently strong performance for Munich after his announcement of a change to the rival, that this spoke for the defender’s “absolute professionalism”. Which is a remarkable statement, because it was rumored from those around Bayern that Süle’s lack of professionalism (keyword: weight) was also a reason for the departure. In any case, one thing is certain: Süle also played well against Leverkusen, scoring the goal to make it 1-0 (after confusion in the Leverkusen defense), his team-mates then hugged him warmly. One can assume that they are sad about his departure. He got the cheering of the stadium in stoppage time when he neatly tackled Frimpong.
Dayot Upamecano
It’s not as if he wasn’t well disposed in Munich, on the contrary. In the early stages, he received applause from the audience who had returned because he ran a long ball against Florian Wirtz with ease. And now the big “but”: In the first half alone, he made two absolutely hair-raising bad passes, one of which should actually lead to a goal, only the post prevented Adli’s conclusion. Difficult phase especially for him.
Omar Richards
Before the game, coach Julian Nagelsmann said that Omar Richards deserved the call, but the truth is that apart from him there is hardly a left-back available. Alphonso Davies is not fit yet, Lucas Hernandez is suspended. Richard’s first appearance in a back four against Fürth was unfortunate, he improved a lot against Leverkusen, although the task was much more difficult and he also had to deal with one of the most in-form opponents in the league in Jeremy Frimpong. Nevertheless, offered himself actively, demanded the balls, had many scenes, only had to save himself once with a tactical foul. Had a good chance to head the ball in the 61st minute before being substituted off for Marcel Sabitzer – which was definitely not due to his performance.
Joshua Kimmich
Had to listen to the mockery of the Leverkusen fans (“Kimmich, let yourself be vaccinated”), but this topic seems like it’s from another time. Is the hub of the Munich game again, had the ball at his feet in almost every attack, and in the end his ball contact numbers almost reached Xabi Alonso values. Once made a potentially dangerous bad pass. Forward, he never tired of hitting corner kick after corner kick. Niklas Süle converted one, with Leverkusen previously defending so uncoordinated that Kimmich cannot be credited with an assist.
Jamal Musiala
You actually thought that with Musiala in eighth position was just an emergency maneuver, but Julian Nagelsmann seems to pull it off. Although: Here, too, the only alternative would have been Marc Roca, since Marcel Sabitzer was apparently not one hundred percent fit. Musiala offered again an appearance against Leverkusen with all its strengths and weaknesses. Has incredible ball handling and control. Created such dangerous situations in the early stages, then lost a ball that you can’t lose in the centre, then forced Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky to make a strong save again.
Kingsley Coman
Has a bit of the problem that he set the standard for his performance evaluation very high. Was often the so-called difference player in the past games – he didn’t succeed against Leverkusen. Don’t get me wrong, Coman was good, is always difficult to defend, but he didn’t come through decisively against Leverkusen. His most striking action was a successful defensive duel against Florian Wirtz, later he also got a deserved yellow card for a clumsy foul. Was dealt with really hard by Leverkusen and especially by Mitchell Bakker, who had to be substituted under acute yellow-red danger.
Thomas Müller
what to say Thomas Müller is simply Thomas Müller in every situation and it is only logical that he also scored the first own goal of his life in the typical Müller way – as it would not happen to anyone else. For reasons that he probably only knows himself and which he will hopefully explain after the game, jumped into an actually harmless free-kick cross and thus sent it past the puzzled Ulreich into the goal. Didn’t Ulreich call? Hadn’t Müller heard anything? In any case, it wasn’t his day, in fact he was already wrong in the 16th minute when he accidentally blocked a Lewandowski shot that was very dangerous. The Pole looked in disbelief at his strike partner, whose outstanding ability is actually to always be in the right position. Not today.
Serge Gnabry
It’s often like this with Serge Gnabry: Not much is missing, but the small difference is enough for a committed game not to turn into a good game. Many sprints, for a winger also many ball contacts, two good finishes – both of which just didn’t go in. In the 28th minute, his shot flew just wide of the outside of the post, hitting the side netting in injury time in the first half. Had to give way to Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting in the 74th minute.
Robert Lewandowski
Every game without a Lewandowski goal is now worth mentioning. So: It was a game without a Lewandowski goal. Can you blame the world footballer? Rather not. Didn’t miss a clear goal chance, worked out the few opportunities for it himself, made many ways backwards. Otherwise: unremarkable. Yes, that also happens.
substitute
Of course it would have been for Marcel Sabitzer: First action, the winning goal straight away – it wasn’t far off, but Hradecky had his foot in the middle. Leroy Sane and Bouna Sarr also came into the game, but they no longer made a big difference.