Manuel Neuer
Followed the start of the second half of the season while still being corona-positive on the laptop while on vacation in the Maldives, which brought the realization for the Bayern goal: The commands from substitute Sven Ulreich are also impressively loud. Now Neuer is back with word and deed. He was a little lucky on his return that a rather crooked first-half drive only resulted in an offside goal for Cologne. But was still a winner of the day: secured the cap of FC trainer Steffen Baumgart when swapping jerseys.
Marcel Sabitzer
Played left-back again, and that brought you straight to the point: Even if only one Bayern player (Lucas Hernández) was missing due to corona, Bayern are still concerned with the failures at the beginning of the second half of the season. Main left-back Alphonso Davies is believed to be missing longer with signs of heart muscle inflammation after his corona infection. Substitute left-back Sabitzer didn’t play as confused as in the 1-2 draw against Gladbach.
Niklas Sule
He is not only hearing flattering things publicly from his coach: after the Gladbach bankruptcy there was criticism of his performance, before the Cologne game Julian Nagelsmann also revealed that Süle had a new contract offer from the club. Can at least argue in the negotiations that the header monster Anthony Modeste did not hit him. But who looks outrageous next to Süle?
Benjamin Pavard
Would like to be a central defender more often, but that can only be because of the many failures, at least in the version of a central defender in a back four. Did that without any noticeable mistakes, like Neuer, he was lucky that a goal didn’t count for offside, Pavard was dribbled out by Mark Uth. SZ prognosis: Will soon play back right again, just like in the final phase on Saturday.
Joshua Kimmich
Joshua Kimmich is playing there, right in the back. Was surprisingly voted “national player of the year” by fans of the national team during the week after his Bundesliga colleagues had previously named him “relegated in the first half of the season”. Whether he will be promoted again will not be decided in games as a right-back against Cologne, even if he delivered a flawless, committed game that is typical of Kimmich. After a few changes, he was allowed to return to the middle as boss.
Marc Roca
Julian Nagelsmann has just come out as a friend of winter transfers, which sports director Hasan Salihamidzic ruled out at the end of the first half of the season. After all: Contrary to rumors to the contrary, Roca has not been handed over, which has proven to be the case. He would possibly – steep thesis – not really stand out in the midfield of 1. FC Köln with his unspectacular style of play. But as a supplement, it is still very important.
Corentin Tolisso
In the past, he often didn’t get beyond his role as a backup player, but things are a little different for him: at many other clubs, if he’s healthy, he would definitely stand out. Was on Saturday in the starting eleven with Neuer the only returnee of the nine corona-positive Bavarians a week ago. And was one of the best on the pitch. Won the ball before 1-0, showing his defensive alertness. Shot the ball into the angle to make it 2-0, which showed his class.
Serge Gnabry
After Kingsley Coman’s contract extension during the week with defender Süle, he is still one of the few 25- to 26-year-old top performers at FC Bayern who have not yet extended their contract early. Didn’t collect any new arguments, dribbled out a few Cologne players, but otherwise remained fairly inconspicuous.
Thomas Müller
He only has one contract until 2023, but he’s already 32, so there’s no rush. It is still not clear how FC Bayern will one day function without him. Was in a gamble mood, for example after the 1-0, also prepared the 2-0 by putting the ball in the jump with his outside instep backwards. Is it difficult to imagine? Then you imagine it exactly right. It was Müller’s 18th assist of the season.
Jamal Musiala
The 18-year-old national player was one of the professionals who had to play in a foreign position at FC Bayern in the past few weeks. Musiala was a backup eight for a long time, sometimes also a sixth, against Cologne he was allowed to play again as an offensive all-rounder. Full of euphoria, he sometimes dribbled against three or four opponents – but rarely with a happy ending.
Robert Lewandowski
Might have made a good linesman too. Unlike the assistant responsible in Cologne, he recognized straight away that he was not offside in the ninth minute when he scored the 1-0. Referee Tobias Welz corrected, the hit counted. Nevertheless, Lewandowski will not be awarded as world linesman 2021, but maybe on Monday as world footballer 2021. His argument: 41 goals in the previous season, the prospect of a similar balance sheet this season. Also scored 3-0 and 4-0 and now has 23 goals in 19 games this season and a total of 300 Bundesliga goals.
substitute
In Leroy Sane the third of the players who tested positive at the beginning of the year came back after an hour and immediately scored two goals in an outstanding way. Arrived a quarter of an hour before the end Tanguy Nianzou and Omar Richards, the two also had Corona. And for the final minutes came along Malik Tilman also the 16 year old Paul Wanner back into the game, Bayern’s youngest Bundesliga footballer in the club’s history. But this time it wasn’t the story of the day.