Replacing a legendary goalkeeper is far from easy. It gets a whole lot harder to do when the goalkeeper is Manuel Neuer, who has defined an era of goalkeeping not just at Bayern Munich but across all of Europe, as well, for over a decade.
But that is exactly what Jonas Urbig has to do right now.
Ever since the 22-year-old joined Bayern from FC Köln in the 2025 January transfer window, Neuer has missed over 100 days and over a dozen games due to injury. And it has been Urbig that has had to step in and replace
arguably the most legendary goalkeeper of all time during those games. He will do so in Bayern’s Champions League clash against Atalanta, too, after Neuer was again ruled out through injury recently. So has Urbig filled Neuer’s boots well?
Perhaps Josip Stanišić’s words are not a perfect answer to this question. But they still are relevant. Asked about what changes when Urbig in goal instead of Neuer, the defender’s answer was quite simple: “Jonas has made a huge leap and is a superb goalkeeper. He’s gained valuable match practice,” the Croatian explained, as captured by @iMiaSanMia. “And for us as a team, nothing changes – you’d have to ask the opponent if anything changes when Manuel Neuer is in goal and you’re running towards him. But for us, nothing has changed.”
It may not have been an endorsement to the level of saying “Ohmigosh you guys he is the best keeper ever!”, but it effectively communicates that the defense trusts Urbig to fulfill the same tasks Neuer does. That is a very important quality to possess, particularly as the soon-to-be 40-year-old Neuer’s contract ticks down and thoughts begin to turn from whether Urbig can replace Neuer in the short term to whether he can do it in the long term.
