On Matchday 23 of the 22/23 Bundesliga campaign, Bayern Munich was hosted by VfB Stuttgart. Coming into this game, Bayern needed a win to be ahead of Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga title race. On the other hand, Stuttgart has been battling relegation since the turn of the year, tied at the bottom of the table with 19 points. Stuttgart mounted a good performance, but Die Roten did enough to take all three points. Let us look at the performance of three players that propelled Rekordmeister to win against Stuttgart.
Joshua Kimmich
The man who does it all, Joshua Kimmich had an outstanding performance against Stuttgart, both in offense and defense. When paired with Leon Goretzka, Kimmich is able to easily break free in the attack. One of his best offensive moves came in the 11th minute where he released a shot from roughly 30 yards out to draw an incredible save from Stuttgart’s shot-stopper.
Defensively, Kimmich often came to the rescue during fast breaks. Whether he was the first to the ball, or the last-ditch defender, Kimmich’s tackling and interceptions were inch-perfect. His best defensive play came late in the second half as he blocked what could have been a certain goal.
Jamal Musiala
The most influential attacker on the pitch for Bayern was none other than Jamal Musiala. From his skillful dribbling to his delivery in the box, or his final shot, Musiala was doing everything right against Stuttgart on Saturday.
Throughout his rise over the last couple of seasons, Musiala’s skill in dribbling has blossomed into something of world-class talent. A perfect example of this came in the 12th minute as he took on a total of four defenders and still managed to make his way to the goal. His snaky dribble makes him nearly impossible to beat. To cap off his game, Musiala also managed to grab himself an assist for Bayern’s opening goal.
Matthijs de Ligt
For the man that made the difference, Matthijs de Ligt was quite clearly the best player in this game. As a center-back, his defending was next to perfect. Throughout the first 60 minutes of the game, de Ligt perfectly marshaled Die Roten’s defense, allowing Stuttgart only one shot on target.
Impressively enough, at around the 39-minute mark, de Ligt was able to cap both the best defensive and offensive plays of the game. He went from getting an incredible goal-line clearance, to a minute later, scoring the game’s opening goal from 25 yards out– with a half-volley. Rightfully so, Matthijs de Ligt wins this Man of the Match.
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A win in Stuttgart sees Bayern carry some good momentum into their midweek Champions League fixture against PSG. They will be looking to advance to the quarterfinals by beating PSG in Munich during the second leg of the Round of 16.