When Bayern Munich faced Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League this season, one defender stood taller than the rest. Sergio Ramos, former Real Madrid captain and the veteran of a million UCL games, was often the only person keeping Julian Nagelsmann from making the oh-so critical breakthrough to get the floodgates open. Out of Bayern’s squad members, it was Jamal Musiala in particular who struggled to get past the veteran Spaniard.
Speaking to FCBayern.com, Musiala called Ramos the toughest player he has ever played against. “I was a bit surprised by the way Sergio Ramos defended. He was very intuitive and tackled well.”
This was noted by BFW in our postgame analysis of the PSG win, where we said the following:
Sergio Ramos and Nordi Mukiele had the better of Jamal Musiala today. In fact, he’s lacked goals and assists in the Champions League this season compared to the Bundesliga. We’ve all been so starstruck by the outlandish things he’s capable of that we never stop to examine the weaknesses in his game.
Musiala is great for his age, but his moment-to-moment decision-making inside the box can use some work. He hesitates for fractions of a second, which allows an elite defender like Sergio Ramos to shut him down. He’s already too good for most of the Bundesliga, but he needs a fraction more to stand with Europe’s elite.
Now this was Musiala playing against a 36-year-old Ramos, far past his prime. It’s crazy to think that the Spaniard is now on his way to the Saudi league, when he can seemingly still cut it with the best Europe has to offer. Then again, given his injury ridden spell at Paris, maybe it’s for the best.
As for defenders that match Ramos, Musiala brought up Lucas Hernandez, calling him “horrible to play against”. Guess we now know why Paris offered Lucas that huge contract, huh?