Jonas Urbig started in goal for Bayern Munich’s 3-o win at Borussia Mönchengladbach over the weekend in what was only the keeper’s second match of the season for the German Rekordmeister. Manuel Neuer
was fit and available, but the idea from Vincent Kompany and his coaching staff was to give Urbig minutes ahead of the midweek DFB-Pokal clash against FC Köln since Neuer will be serving a red card suspension for that match from the straight red he was shown in last season’s round of 16 loss to Bayer Leverkusen. He was given a two-match suspension by the DFB and already sat out his first match during Bayern’s first round, 3-2 win over Wehen Wiesbaden back at the end of August. Neuer would be available for the next round in the competition if Bayern beat Köln.
As far as the bigger picture is concerned, Bayern getting Urbig from Köln last winter was very much a move to plan for the eventual departure of Neuer, as much as Bayern fans won’t want that day to come. Sven Ulreich is still with the club, but Urbig is seen as the long-term replacement for when Neuer finally has to call it quits with the reigning Bundesliga champions.
Board member for sport Max Eberl recently revealed that there were clear and direct communications with Neuer when Bayern was purchasing Urbig from Köln, making sure that everyone was on the same page with what the long-term plan was for both players. “Before we spoke to Jonas Urbig, we spoke to Manu and his agent Thomas Kroth and said: That would be our plan, we would like to go through with it. Manu was open to it from the first conversation, respected it – and likes and appreciates Jonas very much. I think that through this combination from the beginning – to discuss this topic honestly and openly – we immediately had openness from all sides,” Eberl explained (via Tz).
As the season progresses, especially if Bayern go through to the next round of the DFB-Pokal and maintain a gap at the top of the Bundesliga table, there will be more opportunities for Urbig to get starts and gain more confidence within the team. He already had a stretch last season where he had to stand in for Neuer and stood to his task quite well so shortly after making the move from Köln.
