Bayern Munich: Player ratings from loss against Monchengladbach

Daniel Garza

Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller fighting for ball against Borussia Monchengladbach.(Photo by WOLFGANG RATTAY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Player ratings from Bayern Munich’s 3-2 loss to Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Bayern Munich suffered their second defeat of the season in the Bundesliga. Die Roten allowed hosts Borussia Mönchengladbach to score three unanswered goals to record a 3-2 victory on matchday 15. After leading 2-0 a half-hour into the match, Mönchengladbach rallied in the final 15 minutes to level the scoreline before taking the lead in the early stages of the second half. Here are the player ratings from Bayern’s loss.

Manager Rating

Hansi Flick-6/10

The backline continues to be a standout issue for Bayern as the season progresses. Flick went with David Alaba and Niklas Süle as the center backs. The duo struggled to contain the Mönchengladbach attack. For yet another match, Bayern conceded multiple goals, and the high line was exposed by the hosts. Lucas Hernandez did not feature in the match, even as a substitute, which was a surprise. With a lack of clean sheets so far this season, Hernandez deserves an opportunity to be used as a center back to see if he can help make a difference.

When it came to the offensive selections, the one surprising selection was Douglas Costa starting over Kingsley Coman. Understandably, Coman is returning from a brief injury break so a full 90 minutes may not have been the best option for this match. However, Coman perhaps should have been brought into the match at halftime as he was one of Bayern’s most lively players in the final quarter-hour of the match.

Although Bayern did not have a very good performance overall, Flick still has more trophies than he has defeats since becoming the manager. Losses are going to happen to top clubs, even the very best ones. As a result, this performance shouldn’t be too much of a worry as other top clubs in Europe have found it difficult to remain perfect in the 2020/21 season. In fact, this might not be the last time Bayern come up short this season. It’s a demanding schedule and expectations have to be realistic.

Player Ratings

GK, Manuel Neuer-6/10

Bayern’s goalkeeper was not able to come up with a big save this time around to help Die Roten get a result. There was little he could have done to keep the strike from Florian Neuhaus’ out and Mönchengladbach’s other two goals were well-placed strikes. Neuer’s clean sheet total remains at two so far this season in the Bundesliga as Bayern’s backline continues to struggle. He is on pace to have the lowest clean sheet total of his career in the German top flight.

DEF, David Alaba-6/10

Alaba and Bayern’s backline have conceded 11 goals in their last six Bundesliga fixtures. The woes continue and this match was not a step in the right direction. The Austrian defender did have positive moments which included intercepting a pass in the 39th minute in the penalty area that could have led to an opportunity. But there were rough moments from Alaba as well such as turning the ball over late in second-half stoppage time when the time was running out to find an equalizer.

DEF, Niklas Sule-5/10

The center back struggled to contain Jonas Hofmann who scored two of Mönchengladbach’s three goals in this match. Süle also turned the ball over in the 48th minute which led to the match-winning goal. After a strong performance against Mainz on matchday 14, Süle was unable to produce a repeat performance against Mönchengladbach.

DEF, Alphonso Davies-6/10

Davies had a great start to the match as he helped draw the penalty kick call in the first half that led to Robert Lewandowski’s successful conversion. That was his best moment of the match as he intercepted the pass that led to the penalty call as well. In the second half, there not many chances created by Davies as he finished with no key passes in the match.

DEF, Benjamin Pavard-6/10

The right-back led Bayern in tackles with a total of five. He had a very good tackle in the 23rd minute to disrupt a scoring opportunity. However, he did turn the ball over in the 35th minute which led to Hofmann’s first goal of the match.

MID, Joshua Kimmich-6/10

Kimmich was unable to find the final pass that led to a goal in this match. After registering assists in his first two appearances since returning from an injury, the midfielder’s assist streak came to an end. He completed 91% of his passes, and three of his eight crosses found their target.

MID, Leon Goretzka-7/10

Goretzka was one of the best players for Bayern against Mönchengladbach. He scored a fantastic goal in the 26th minute. The midfielder intercepted a pass and then got forward before unleashing a fantastic strike that rocketed past Yann Sommer. Defensively, Goretzka led the way in interceptions with four. The German midfielder covered every blade of the grass on Friday as he had different roles to play throughout the game. In the first half, he was dropping between the central defense to facilitate the build-up play. When Die Roten were chasing a goal, Goretzka was playing in the final third since he is a threat in the box. It was a solid performance from the German international on his first start in few weeks.

CAM, Thomas Müller-6/10

The Bayern veteran helped lead the way in terms of creating chances with three key passes registered. Although no assists were recorded by Müller, he was one of the more lively players offensively. He had two shots, third-most for a Bayern player on Friday.

RW, Douglas Costa-5/10

Costa made just his third appearance in the starting XI in a Bundesliga match this season for Bayern. He struggled to produce scoring chances and finished with zero key passes. The winger was replaced by Coman in the 68th minute.

LW, Leroy Sane-6/10

After scoring a terrific goal against Mainz on matchday 14, Sane was involved in Bayern’s scoring in his match as well with an assist on Goretzka’s strike in the first half. Sane tied with Müller for most key passes in the match and was second for Bayern in shots with a total of three.

ST, Robert Lewandowski-7/10

The star striker continues to produce for Bayern. Lewandowski scored his 20th goal of the 2020/21 Bundesliga campaign with his successful penalty kick conversion. After that goal, not many high-quality opportunities came his way and he finished with four shots in the match.

Sub, Kingsley Coman -7/10

Coman was the lone substitute and provided a spark after entering the match. One of his top moments was when he sent in a well-placed cross to Lewandowski in the 71st minute that was just put over the crossbar by the striker. The winger finished with two key passes and one shot.