Bayern Munich secured a hard-fought 1-0 win away to SC Freiburg. Here are the match awards:
Jersey Swap: Mark Flekken
Matthias Ginter got this award in midweek and I was tempted to do it again, because Ginter had yet another great performance. But Flekken was clearly Freiburg’s best player on the day, making 7 saves, including some really big ones. It would be too kind to most of Bayern’s forwards (looking at you, Sane) to say Flekken’s presence in goal also put them off when they shanked multiple one one ones, but the German certainly did play his part. And the only goal he conceded was that incredible shot from Matthjis De Ligt. Well played.
Der Kaiser: Benjamin Pavard
With Lucas Hernandez already injured, Bayern fans tend to panic a little when either Dayot Upamecano or De Ligt are unavailable for a game, as Upamecano was today. However, Benjamin Pavard has proved his reliability on multiple occasions and did so again today with another unspectacular yet stellar performance. One barely noticed him today, which is exactly what you want from a defender.
Der Fußballgott: Joshua Kimmich
You know the drill. Joshua Kimmich passing good. Leadership good. Press resistance good. Kimmich has probably won about a thousand of these awards in a row and for good reason. There was the temptation to give the award to Musiala, perhaps use his assist to De Ligt as an excuse (because we all know the assist did all the work), but Musiala was simply too sloppy today to deserve any sort of award. Oh well.
Der Bomber: Thomas Müller
Thomas Müller was pretty good today. He had his moments, i.e. when he played that gorgeous cross in for Sadio Mané, and he ran his socks off as he admirably does every single game without fail, but he also disappeared from the game at times. It was a solid shift which normally would not mark him as the outstanding player in attack, but everybody else was awful.
Meister of the Match: Matthjis De Ligt
There was simply nobody on the field who could remotely challenge De Ligt today. Remember what I wrote about how defenders shouldn’t really be noticed in games? De Ligt vehemently disagrees and, if it leads to these kinds of performances, who can argue with him? He was utterly phenomenal at the back, winning virtually every challenge with the kind of precision that experienced defenders could only dream of. He kept the backline organized as it was severely tested by SC Freiburg’s counter attacks and his distribution was not half bad either.
But that goal was incredible! The technique required to put that kind of curve on the shot was amazing. I thought it was a deflected shot at first. No, it was just a thing of absolute beauty. What a signing De Ligt is turning out to be.
Looking for more thoughts on Bayern Munich’s 1-0 victory over SC Freiburg, including Thomas Tuchel’s troubles, the lack of precision in the attack, some praise for Matthijs de Ligt, and the near BRAWL? Check out our postgame podcast on Spotify or below:
As always, we appreciate the support!