Match Awards from Bayern Munich’s 3-1 win against FC Köln

Bayern Munich officially wrapped up their Hinrunde in style, a 3-1 win against Köln. Despite the early upset, conceding in the 41st minute, they made a huge comeback with fantastic goals from Serge Gnabry, Kim Min-jae and Lennart Karl (who cannot stop doing the Calma celebration). Let’s talk about the standout performers from this game.

Jersey Swap — Linton Maina

At the 41st minute of the game, Linton Maina, a 26-year-old winger, managed to singlehandedly upset the best team in Germany. He scored a goal with a finish so extraordinary with his left foot, even the most toxic, hardcore Bayern fans would’ve appreciated him. Quality is quality, after all.

Saïd El Mala and Maina upset Bayern on multiple occasions in the first half. Unfortunately, a certain hero from Bayern’s defense rose by the second half…

Der Kaiser — Kim Min-jae

The Korean international was THE game-changer.

Let’s start with a statistic. Per WhoScored, Kim Min-Jae has THE HIGHEST pass accuracy, amongst those who played duration of the game. 94.7%. What a number, what a man.

Kim not only had such incredible passing, but also did phenomenally in clearances and recoveries. His passing contributed to progressive play more often than not, and with his aerial capabilities, he might be one of the most well-rounded centre-backs.

Speaking of aerials, his header. The assist from Hiroki Itō was extremely well-timed, and his header perfectly placed. If it were not for this goal, Bayern could not have gained adequate momentum to make the second half count, like they did today.

The biggest complaint around him is that he often makes huge errors and has lapses in attention. Tonight was a different story — the duo of Jonathan Tah and Kim completely shut down the opposition in the second half. The Maina goal was a collective lapse, but they ensured nothing even close to that ever happened again.

Finally, something that is not spoken enough of, is his pace. I could’ve sworn I saw him outrun some forwards half his age. It was a sight to be beholden by.

Der Fussballgott — Leon Goretzka

I only speak for players when they have impressed me enough.

At the outset, I must mention, tonight’s performance from Leon Goretzka would not have been possible, had Aleksander Pavlović not done an amazing job at his end.

Leon Goretzka is known for a lot of things, his physicality, his ability to contribute to progressive passing and his ball-carrying abilities. Tonight, he begun showing signs of such skills, which were thought to be long gone. He isn’t known for his discipline, which I personally believe, is what makes him a huge liability. But his attacking prowess shone bright enough to cover up for his usual antics.

Goretzka will never be Pavlović — neither do they perform the same role, nor do they have to. But the reason I bring up this comparison is because even despite wildly different roles, something that the 30-year-old can learn from his younger counterpart is discipline. You will never see Pavlović meander or leave his partner to clean up after him. In fact, the 21-year-old is often the one to clean things up for everyone else, and anchor the game. Did you know, in the entire pitch, no one took more touches than him? Now you do.

This might be the start of Goretzka’s renaissance. And if it is, I am happy — not for him, but for the team.

Der Bomber — Serge Gnabry

People are going to talk about his goal years from now.

Someone find me an ambulance, and hand Serge Gnabry the Puskas, because what did I just watch?

Right after his lapse that led to the Maina goal, Gnabry quickly made up and scored the equalizer in added time. The assist from Michael Olise was perhaps an afterthought, for the German performed a spectacular solo performance. Evading the Köln defense, he ran in to perform a shot that one could not have ever imagined — from an extremely narrow angle, he bounces the ball off the ground, causing it to go OVER the goalkeeper and into the net.

Shout-out to Tom Adams for putting this clip on the BFW Twitter.

Gnabry’s favourite team in the Bundesliga is historically known to be Köln, so I am not surprised at his performance. But it genuinely is the work ethic of a man who will do anything to get his contract renewed that I have to admire here. Well done, Serge. Well done.

Meister of the Match — Luis Díaz 

Who but Lucho? The one player in the attack who had everything going perfect — from passing to identifying spaces.

He got the assist for Lennart Karl’s goal — the assist perhaps more spectacular than the goal itself. Dribbling past several defenders to identify the perfect space for Karl, and making the timely pass, the Colombian shows why he was the best player on the pitch.

If dribbling was an art, Díaz is Michelangelo. And I love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

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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