Manuel Neuer
The fact that the “duel of the national goalkeepers” was not an issue before the game was due on the one hand to the fact that such duels are only constructed anyway and on the other hand it is no longer a duel – Neuer’s position vis-à-vis Ter Stegen is too unchallenged. And while Neuer’s opposite opened the game with a bad pass and did not look good at Sané’s goal, Neuer flew once for the gallery with a harmless shot by Jordi Alba and once received a special praise from Thomas Müller for a nice pass. After all – in the first leg Barcelona didn’t even shoot at his goal.
Benjamin Pavard
Opened the game with a strong tackle against Ousmane Dembélé and whenever you thought that this could be a duel that could decide Barcelona in their favor, the defender solved a situation confidently or spectacularly (see photo). A typical Pavard game – clean at the back, without a big scene at the front.
Niklas Süle
Did a couple of his impressive dribbles in which he brings his imposing body up to speed and then runs back to front like an American football player on the way to a touchdown (see photo). Only missed the right moment to play twice – once his teammates also missed the moment to run free. Hasn’t been part of the chain of three lately after his corona infection, actually nothing speaks against making him part again.
Dayot Upamecano
At some point helped the referee who had problems with the radio technology and if that is the most noticeable scene of the defensive boss in a game against FC Barcelona, then you can think a lot about the opponent’s offensive performance.
Alphonso Davies
At the latest when he sprinted through the whole of Barcelona alone in the mythical 8: 2 of FC Bayern and Joshua Kimmich put on a goal, the whole world suddenly knew him. So despite his young years he already has a history with this opponent and probably tomorrow Davies and especially the duel between the Canadian and Uruguayan Ronald Araujo will be discussed again in the city’s numerous sports newspapers – who was tragically inferior to Davies in terms of speed. Prepared the 3-0 win for Musiala with a sprint – but this time only ran through half of Barcelona.
Corentin Tolisso
I realized early on in the game that it makes a difference whether you play alongside Leon Goretzka or Jamal Musiala in central midfield. Had to take on a lot of responsibility in the intense pressing of the opponent at the beginning, was sometimes up to it, sometimes not. He didn’t do badly in the last few games, he could advertise himself, but it’s probably not motivating when you know that Joshua Kimmich will be back soon and then you’ll find yourself back on the bench.
Jamal Musiala
In his defense: He has not played the position of the so-called eight that often. His preferred habitat is on the opponent’s sixteen, the narrower the space, the more opponent’s legs, the better. On the wide prairie of the central midfield, on the other hand, he lost his track too often against Barcelona. Sometimes it seemed like he wasn’t sure where to go. It is significant that he scored the 3-0 precisely when he ventured into the thicket and pushed into the Davies Pass.
Kingsley Coman
If he is fit, if he can take a run up, then he can hardly be held by any opponent in the world. Was often built into the right side because Nagelsmann plays this now well-known crooked system with the free left side. When he had space before Sané’s 2-0 win, he dribbled over half the field and gave Sané the space to finish. Had these high phases several times in his career – now his muscles should hold up.
Thomas Müller
Is and remains the nemesis of FC Barcelona – he scored the eighth goal against the Catalans in the seventh game. This time he was successful with a kind of hollow back header (photo) that just crossed the line and whoever thinks this is a coincidence does not know Thomas Müller. It’s a real shame that Johan Cruyff is no longer alive and you can’t ask him what he thinks of this personified chaos theory that regularly pushes his football club into the abyss.
From Müller’s point of view it is also a shame that there are no contract negotiations pending, he could demand a part of the coach’s salary because he coaches his team on the field even with a 3-0 lead up to the last minute.
Leroy Sané
Started the game with a bad free kick, but the Leroy Sané in December 2021 has so much self-confidence that it won’t throw him off course. Backwards with one or the other duel that he guaranteed not to have won a year ago, let alone waged at all. Now he also has a shooting technique in which he swings his leg fully through (see photo), and in which the balls flutter like a volleyball serve – Marc-André ter Stegen didn’t look good at Sané’s goal to make it 2-0, but he did Ball also made really strange changes of direction in flight. He gave Ter Stegen a save when shortly after the break he left the 3-0 in an almost grotesque way and pushed the ball into the goalkeeper’s arms from a very short distance.
Robert Lewandowski
You thought – what’s next? What reaction will he show? After losing the Ballon d’Or to Lionel Messi, will he score four or five goals against Messi’s ex-club to show everyone how wrong they were in their choice? Lewandowski then shone – with some preparatory work. Yes, really. Dribbled forward, let the old veteran Gerard Piqué fidget and lobbed thoughtfully at Thomas Müller, who maneuvered the ball over the line (see there). He was denied a goal of his own, although Nagelsmann left him on the field for a long time in this game, which is actually meaningless for FC Bayern.