Bayern Munich struggle in tense 4-2 victory — Player grades

Bayern Munich extended their lead to 16 points in the league, but not without trouble. Not at their defensive best, Bayern allowed Werder Bremen to creep their way into the match.

Manager Grade

Jupp Heynckes — B-

It’s hard to be too rough on the coach for this one. The Bayern Munich starting XI featured, while missing key components, was strong and could make no excuses. Jupp Heynckes arguably fielded the strongest team he currently has available to him. The errors that occurred were largely individual ones.

Player Grades

GK, Sven Ulreich — C-

It was far from Sven Ulreich’s best game. However, he wasn’t nearly as poor as his early tenure in replacing Manuel Neuer. Don’t want to be too harsh, but getting nut-megged on a goal and then forcing a corner with some awkward/poor defending can’t go unnoticed. Thankfully he did enough to keep the score in Bayern Munich’s favor.

DEF, Juan Bernat — C-

Nothing special, unfortunately, from the Spaniard on his return. However, Bernat has been forced to deal with some unlucky injury spells and hasn’t had much of a chance to feature. Hopefully with some fine-tuning and refinement, he can reach his potential.

DEF, Niklas Sule — D+

Early on, Sule didn’t have much to deal with. This was at least because Werder Bremen didn’t kick it into high gear until a little later. But once the pressure mounted, it started to show. Poor man-marking and an unfortunate deflected own-goal scars his performance.

DEF, Jerome Boateng — B-

The big man mostly did well in the back. His glorious long-ball to assist Thomas Muller’s first goal was the highlight for Jerome Boateng. He won a fair share of headers and made some important defensive plays. But his unfortunate mistiming in attempting to intercept Jerome Gondorf’s goal was what keeps his score a bit lower than it could have been.

DEF, Joshua Kimmich — C-

Joshua Kimmich continues to show a lack of refinement in his defensive play. His terrible man-marking on Gondorf allowed him to go clean on goal against Sven Ulreich. However, he salvages a C- due to a noticeable improvement in his defensive performance in the second-half.

MID, Javi Martinez — C-

The big Spaniard had no real impact on this match. Despite being in his favored defensive-midfield role, there was just not a lot going for him. He did enough to not make any glaring errors, but wasn’t his typical dominant self.

MID, Franck Ribery — B-

Franck Ribery showed that despite his age, he still has that same hunger and drive. Some of the most promising Bayern Munich attacks started from the left with the Frenchman. Unfortunate not to capitalize on his chances.

MID, James Rodriguez — A-

James Rodriguez keeps looking more and more like the bargain that he is. His first-half went relatively quiet, but he turned up the heat in the second-half. The Colombian ended up notching up two assists with a well placed corner to Robert Lewandowski, and a beautifully lobbed pass over to Thomas Muller for his second goal.

MID, Thomas Muller — A+

The Bayern Munich poster-boy came up with a top-drawer performance. He opened the scoring to claw Bayern back into the game with a well-hit volley. He capped off his performance with a sublime cross to assist Lewandowski’s second, and finish off James’ lobbed pass for his own brace.

MID, Arjen Robben — D

There’s not much to say for Robben’s performance on the day. Nothing positive, unfortunately. The Dutchman was surprisingly toothless going forward.

FWD, Robert Lewandowski — B+

The Polish striker really knows how to pop up at the most random of times. Admittedly, Lewandowski was very ineffective in the first half. However, in the second, all he needed was a bit of inspiration. He rose to the occasion — literally — to nod home two relatively quick headed goals.

Next: Bayern Munich announce contract with Schalke star Leon Goretzka

Subs

FWD, Sandro Wagner — N/A

The newcomer’s late inclusion and lack of impact merits no score.

MID, Arturo Vidal — C+

Perhaps Arturo Vidal should have started in defensive-midfield over Javi for this one. Given how the Chilean performed as just a sub, it may have been for the best. He dictated the midfield more and was tenacious defensively for the most part.

MID, Kingsley Coman — N/A

Due to being subbed in and making no meaningful impact, no score is needed.