Manuel Neuer
A game like that in the venerable San Siro, in which the stands shake when the spectators jump, is certainly special for Manuel Neuer. Before that, he had never been to Milan with FC Bayern. In terms of football, however, the Champions League start was quite ordinary for the national goalkeeper. He caught a shot in the first half, Edin Dzeko made things a bit more dangerous in the second, but Neuer was back. And of course he dribbled a bit too, but he probably didn’t understand why the stadium sighed so hopefully.
Matthijs de Ligt
For such games, which sound like great football and should look like it in the Bayern defense, he came from Juve in the summer for 67 million euros. Before that, it wasn’t the rule that he was in the starting XI. However, competitor Dayot Upamecano recently made mistakes in the 1-1 draws against Union Berlin and Gladbach, so de Ligt offered to be Lucas Hernández’s sidekick. Defended confidently and with power, once a bit too much: he jumped at Marcelo Brozovic and saw yellow. But jumped successfully towards Edin Dzeko more often without seeing yellow cards afterwards.
Lucas Hernandez
He was booed particularly loudly by Inter fans before the game, which could probably be explained by the fact that his brother Theo plays for rivals AC Milan – after all, family is very important in Italy. However, one can imagine that such anger from the stands makes him a little better, in any case he was extremely courageous in the duels, sometimes risking a lot (i.e. counterattacks), but that worked out well. Courage only became carelessness when the score was 2-0 with a bad pass in his own penalty area, and then he was lucky.
Benjamin Pavard
The right full-back has been a constant in the Bayern season so far and has always played. Often opened the game in Milan, usually only with the small passes to Joshua Kimmich or Sabitzer, but someone has to do that too. A conspicuous error of his was again not to be seen.
Alphonso Davies
As more and more wingers than defenders, there was often room for this because Inter primarily tried to block the penalty area. Initiated a lot on his left side, sometimes shot himself, but didn’t score.
Joshua Kimmich
Some things are new at FC Bayern 2022/23, but some things are the same as before: Joshua Kimmich plays chip balls, and these balls are often world class. He was given time before the 1-0, which is a big mistake in the opponent’s midfield pressing, but the ball then flew really well into the path of goalscorer Leroy Sané. And, you know that too: Lautaro Martinez yelled in the face from a few millimeters when he carelessly messed with him.
Marcel Sabitzer
In the early stages of the Bundesliga season, he surprisingly proved himself to be Kimmich’s protector and sidekick, so he also appeared as such on the larger stage. Something went wrong here and there in Milan. But what would have plunged the Sabitzer from the previous season into a crisis of meaning doesn’t seem to bother the Sabitzer this season. However, it was substituted after an hour for Leon Goretzka.
Thomas Müller
As a child, he used to be a spectator at the San Siro, he said enthusiastically beforehand. His performance then looked really like a special desire for the evening. Fought the ball while straddling the pressing. And where his colleagues on the offensive sometimes missed the move to the goal with a lot of superiority, he finished, goalkeeper André Onana saved twice. But even if he didn’t score a goal: Müller should probably continue to rave about the San Siro after this evening.
Kingsley Coman
Had it, somewhat surprisingly, to do with Robin Gosens, the German international who has been mostly on the bench at Inter so far. Whether it was up to Gosens or not, Coman had his difficulties finding Sadio Mané with his passport, whom he often looked for. But then he was involved in the 2-0 as a double double pass partner.
Leroy Sane
At the beginning of the season, when the other attackers played and scored from the start, the good form Sané is in was lost a bit. In Milan he now took the leading role: was involved in creating many chances even before the 1-0. Then managed to make it 1-0, with elegant ball acceptance and dribbling around goalkeeper Onana, to put the beauty of Kimmich’s pass in the shade a little. And would actually have deserved the 2-o, but Inter defender D’Ambrosio steered Sané’s shot decisively into the goal.
Sadio Mane
As conspicuous as Sané played, Mané remained inconspicuous. Or: It was noticeable how much he tried to position himself. But he never really came into his own at the top.
substitute
To Leon Goretzka still came Serge Gnabry for Kingsley Coman and Dayot Upamecano for Matthijs de Ligt, but with the 2-0 the game was already decided in favor of Munich. That was especially true for the substitution of Josip Stanisic and Jamal Musiala.