A Harry Kane penalty conversion and goal from Luis Díaz in the second half sealed the deal for Bayern Munich in their 2-0 win over RB Leipzig at the Allianz Arena to book their place in the DFB-Pokal semifinals — somewhere they haven’t been in six years. The last time the German Rekordmeister was in the German Cup semifinals was in the 2019/20 season, which was interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Bayern Munich went on to secure a treble and subsequently a sextuple under Hansi Flick.
With his
all-important goal in the win over Leipzig, Luis Díaz took his goal tally to 19 goals across all competitions so far this season, helping seal Bayern’s fate in advancing to the semifinals of the Pokal. The goal underlines just how crucial Lucho has been for the Bundesliga champions this season, especially when the context of the summer transfer window is taken into consideration. Bayern were certain they were going to land Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, but he chose Liverpool and Bayern wound up getting Díaz towards the end of the window for a fee of 70 million euros, which a lot of people felt was too expensive.
Fast forward to now, and the Colombian winger has proven he’s well worth the money Bayern paid for him last summer and board member for sport Max Eberl reiterated that sentiment after the Pokal win over Leipzig. “We were criticized a bit at the beginning [for signing him], but we knew what we were doing. We were convinced he would fit us very well, not only with his goals and assists, but also his willingness and intensity. He showed that in Liverpool for years. We felt he was a great fit for the way we want to play football. He’s a very good transfer. Maybe some people will backtrack now and say: okay, maybe it wasn’t too bad,” he stressed (via @iMiaSanMia).
Eberl is right. There has certainly been a bit of a conversational shift in the way the Díaz was talked about then vs. now. Of course, a lot of it was paralleled to Wirtz struggling to get goal contributions amidst Liverpool’s struggles in the Premier League, but the German playmaker has started to find his feet for Arne Slot’s side, but even still, when you look at how Díaz has done compared to Wirtz, the 70 million euro price tag seems more than well worth it, especially if he’s going to pop up with goals that get Bayern through to DFB-Pokal semifinals.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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