Following the emphatic 3-1 win against Chelsea FC in the Champions League, Bayern Munich returned to the Bundesliga. They faced TSG Hoffenheim away with a rotated squad. The expectations were mixed on how the team would perform. What ensued was a near-even game, albeit with Bayern holding a slight edge over the former. Here are the match awards from the game.
Jersey Swap — Vladimír Coufal
As often as Hoffenheim looked disorganized and lost, they also had moments of brilliance from players like Vladimír Coufal who kept the game
alive. The right-back was constantly threatening with several attacking movements. Though he struggled to defensively hold the ship, he perhaps did most of the damage control — making key tackles and clearances. Following the entry of Andrej Kramaric, the team took on a more aggressive attacking style and this is where Coufal truly shone as well. This resulted in the singular goal wherein the Bayern defense and particularly Joshua Kimmich did not act fast enough, and the Czech reacted quickly and made it count. Barring the atrocious miss he had in the first half, he truly made it count for his team and with Oliver Baumann, was among the very few who had a performance decent enough to speak of.
Der Kaiser — Kim Min-Jae
For the first time in a while, this is truly a game for Kim Min-Jae where there are no critiques of his game. He has a strong performance, winning duels and making significant tackles. He had some phenomenal last-minute blocks in the box that truly deserve a rewatch. His passing was just as impressive, and so was his involvement in initiating attacking chances with long range passes. He anchored the defense and gave Manuel Neuer a relatively quiet afternoon. As a result, the backline looked well organized and helped hold Hoffenheim apart enough to make good chances.
Der Fussballgott — Aleksandar Pavlović
It is in games like these where Aleksandar Pavlović truly shows his qualities. He started the game alongside Goretzka, and was arguably the better among the two. He was composed, was excellent on his feet and continues a terrific string of performances with this one. His distribution is truly something to admire and he has an adequate defensive work rate as well. He kept checks on Hoffenheim’s attempts to initiate counters, quickly gaining control of the center as and when needed. He also identified spaces where Bayern could push through to attack and even created some excellent chances. He may no longer resemble Batman, but watched over Bayern like Batman did to Gotham.
Der Bomber — Luis Diaz
Luis Diaz, yet again, continues an unfortunate streak. A constant threat on the left wing, terrific with the ball and absolutely fantastic making chances, and yet, the output did not speak for him. He constantly either hit the woodwork, was denied by Baumann or saw his chance fizzle out in the final third. Despite that, credit is due for he kept Hoffenheim, and particularly Baumann on their toes. He opened up spaces for Kane on multiple occasions and displayed his incredibly explosive pace. Additionally he’d track back and recover balls too — showing his willingness to really put in the work.
As much as one would have liked to see more of Lennart Karl, he was easily dispossessed. Barring his fantastic assist to Harry Kane, not much was there to his game. Nicolas Jackson had a similarly frustrating outing.
However, a much underrated player from this game is Serge Gnabry. Though he was involved only for a few minutes, his last minute goal is an exemplification of his quality — not many would even dare to attempt from an angle like that, let alone score. In his ‘comeback’ season, Gnabry’s making heads turn and reminding us of who he was — the man who has singlehanded destroyed every London team.
Meister of the Match — Harry Kane
In a day and age where pure strikers are seldom made and very few still play, Harry Kane shines. He is an excellent goalscorer but what sets him aside is his sincerity — you would never see him simply waiting to have the ball passed to him. Kane’s brilliance lies in his ability to make plays by dropping deep and involving himself in every square inch of the game.
His precision and composure from the spot get enough attention as such — he is a seasoned penalty taker. But his ability to linkup play like a midfielder, fight for the ball back like a defender, and finish like a striker… is truly otherworldly. Bayern has for long lacked a man who could win aerial duels, and Kane does, so effortlessly. With yet another hattrick, Kane continues to prove he’s among the best at Bayern, and certainly, among the best strikers in the world.
When Bayern Munich traveled to Sinsheim on a short week after taking down Chelsea FC in the Champions League, it was never going to be easy.
Hoffenheim is well-coached, motivated, and playing with a real fire. For a weary Bayern Munich side, that meant trouble, but Vincent Kompany heavily rotated his men and while it was not always dominant or even pretty, the Bavarians showed their grit once again in a 4-1 win.
Let’s get into all of the details right here on the Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show:
- A look at the starting XI and why it was absolutely the right move to rotated so much.
- A rundown of the scoring and substitutions — and why that scary first half told us so much about where the squad stands.
- Some final thoughts and takeaways on the match.
Also, be sure to stay tuned to Bavarian Podcast Works for all of your up to date coverage on Bayern Munich and Germany. Check us out on Patreon and follow us on Twitter @BavarianFBWorks, @BavarianPodcast @TheBarrelBlog, @BFWCyler, @2012nonexistent, @TommyAdams71 and more.
