Bayern Munich thrash Schalke away from home — Player grades

Bayern Munich once again silence their critics with an excellent display — particularly from James Rodriguez — to defeat Schalke 3-0 away from home.

Manager Grade

Carlo Ancelotti — A

After much recent criticism, Carlo Ancelotti will surely be feeling much more comfortable with his team’s past two matches. The Italian rotated his squad heavily and the results paid dividends. Fielding a starting line-up that featured both James Rodriguez and Thomas Muller, Carlo got both his tactics and starting XI completely right on the day.

Player Grades

GK, Sven Ulreich — B+

Deputizing for the injured Manuel Neuer — as he will be for the rest of 2017 — Sven Ulreich enjoyed a good day between the sticks. He started the match a bit shakily, but slowly grew into it. He was tested on multiple occasions and stepped up to make the save each time. A much needed confidence boost for the German.

DEF, Rafinha — C

Much better going forward than tracking back, Rafinha actually didn’t register a single tackle in the match. He did, however, have several excellent passes and could have even registered an assist. Considering he’s not naturally a left-sided player, it’s hard to judge the Brazilian-German too harshly.

DEF, Niklas Sule — B-

This was another good display from the German giant in the Bavarian back-line. Not only was he solid defensively, but also steady in his distribution. Sule played a match-high 85 passes and also had a match-high 96.5% passing accuracy.

DEF, Javi Martinez — C+

Javi Martinez continues to be a bit of an enigma in the Bayern back-line. A defensive liability at times, Javi did also save his team from conceding a goal with a fantastic goal-line clearance. He generally reads the game well, but his positioning still lets him down far too often.

DEF, Joshua Kimmich — C+

Kimmich was nowhere nearly as electric as he was in this past weekend’s clash against Mainz. Nevertheless, he did his job at right-back. The Kid continues his run of featuring in every single minute for Bayern Munich this season.

MID, Sebastian Rudy — A-

The ex-Hoffenheim captain was quietly solid for the entire match. Sitting in a deep holding-midfield role, Rudy was a calming force in a high octane Bayern Munich squad. With five total tackles and three interceptions, Rudy covered his defensive line well too.

MID, Corentin Tolisso — B

Coco was solid if not spectacular in his midfield role alongside Sebastian Rudy. The Frenchman marauded all over the pitch while his German teammate was comfortable to sit further back. Tolisso left the pitch with a knock after 75 minutes; hopefully it’s nothing major.

MID, Kingsley Coman — B

Much like in the win over Mainz, Kingsley Coman did a wonderful job of beating his man and getting himself into threatening positions. Once again, though, his final ball just let him down. It’s great to see that Carlo Ancelotti trusts him, however. That will undoubtedly go a long way in furthering the French winger’s development.

MID, Thomas Muller — B+

Serving as Bayern captain in the stead of Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller was — once again — at his raumdeuter-ing best today. He made all the right runs to create space for himself and his teammates. He was perhaps unlucky not to have grabbed a goal after his powerful header only found the goalpost. His combination with James Rodriguez was beautiful to watch and could become vital to Bayern’s success this season.

MID, James Rodriguez — A+

The Colombian international could hardly have played a better 90 minutes in his first competitive start at Bayern Munich. Along with Coman and Muller, James roamed freely across the pitch and was involved in all things good for die Roten. It was his cross that won the penalty for Bayern’s opener, his cool finish that gave them their second and his perfectly chipped pass that set-up Arturo Vidal for Bayern’s third. That was just about as perfect as it gets.

FWD, Robert Lewandowski — B

Made his mark on the match early with a trademark finish from the penalty spot. Lewandowski had a relatively quiet match, yet still proved a threat to the Schalke defense. Dropped by Carlo Ancelotti early in the second half, presumably with the upcoming Wolfsburg and PSG fixtures in mind.

Next: Manuel Neuer to miss three months with broken foot

Subs

MID, Thiago (64′) — C

Came in late in place of Robert Lewandowski, but couldn’t do anything to add to Bayern’s lead. He did, however, have plenty of time to pick up an unnecessary booking.

MID, Arturo Vidal (68′) — B

An excellent finish to put his team up 3-0 was the Chilean’s main highlight from the match. Came into the match and seemlessly fit in with the rest of the squad.

DEF, Mats Hummels (75′) — N/A

Did not have enough time to warrant a grade.

*Note: All stats taken from WhoScored.com