On Matchday 3 of the Bundesliga season, Bayern Munich were hosted by Borussia Monchengladbach in a high-stakes battle, very early on in the campaign. With Bayern’s star-studded line-up, the Bavarian side was heavily favored to come away victorious; however, M’Gladbach can never be counted out against Bayern.
Bayern have not beaten M’Gladbach in last five matches, and have not won on their grounds since 2019. After conceding a first-half goal, it seemed like Die Roten were going to remain stuck in this trend and M’Gladbach were going to keep the title of Bayern’s “bogie team”. However, a massive second-half comeback saw Rekordmeister come out on top and lead the points table going into the international break. Here are Bayern’s top three performers in their 2-1 win over Borussia Monchengladbach.
Alphonso Davies
Earning himself a near-perfect game against their league-proclaimed bogie team, Alphonso Davies was a decisive point on the defensive side of the ball. In prior matchups against M’Gladbach, wide areas seemed to have been the weak spots in Bayern’s defensive third. M’Gladbach learned to exploit these holes by charging their fullback positions up the field on counterattacks.
Thankfully, Davies learned to adjust to that pressure and managed to lockdown defense on the left side of the pitch. His precision tackling, combined with his incredible allowed him to remain unbeaten all match long and led the way in Bayern’s strong defensive performance. From completely shutting down Gladbach’s attack on the left flank to providing impetus in the final third, Alphonso Davies delivered a complete performance on Saturday.
Leroy Sane
In a game that saw Bayern’s forwards completely shut down, Leroy Sane was able to find a way to break through– something that has become a trend in recent seasons. Sane led Bayern in the second-half flurry by forcing the offensive to apply constant pressure on not only the M’Gladbach backline, but the German winger was also always there to chase down the keeper.
The best moment of Sane’s great performance was the breakthrough goal in the 58th minute. Receiving the overhead ball with an excellent first touch off his chest, allowed for him to perfectly slot the ball effortlessly past the keeper. Sane’s performance helped Bayern to gain the momentum they needed to finally defeat M’Gladbach.
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Joshua Kimmich
In the manner he has started off the 23/24 Bundesliga campaign, it is clear that Joshua Kimmich is arguably in the best form he has ever been in. With Thomas Tuchel’s new tactics, Kimmich has been able to flourish farther up the field. Die Roten has since been able to play directly through Kimmich allowing the attacking players to thrive in the final third.
With precision passing and incredible knowledge to read the field, Kimmich was able to play balls forward that opened up the necessary space Rekordmeister needed all match long. To cap off the quality performance, Kimmich was able to put his name on the assist for both of Bayern’s goals. For that reason, Bayern’s win can be fully attributed to Kimmich’s Man of the Match-worthy performance.
Die Roten will look to continue their perfect start to the season when they host Bayer Leverkusen after the international break.