Bayern Munich: Takeaways from narrow 1-0 win over St. Pauli

Leroy Sané and Leon Goretzka didn’t capitalize on given opportunities

Understandably Vincent Kompany decided to go with some squad rotation against St. Pauli.  There were four changes to the starting XI that faced Benfica on Wednesday.  In defense, Raphael Guerreiro replaced Konrad Laimer at right-back. Quite surprisingly, Leon Goretzka partnered Joshua Kimmich in midfield with João Palhinha amongst the substitutes. In attack, based on recent form, it wasn’t surprising to see Kingsley Coman and Leroy Sané getting the nod ahead of Serge Gnabry and Michael Olise on the left and right flanks, respectively.

In his first start of the season, Goretzka looked risk-averse in and out of possession. He looked ball-shy at times during build-up play, yet he still managed to misplace 12 of his 87 passes. A lack of game time and being marginalized could be partly responsible for his poor showing. However, his performance against St. Pauli lacked the sort of character he showed in games last season when he was under scrutiny.

Leroy Sané was even more disappointing considering how impactful he was off the bench against Benfica on Wednesday. The two shots he had on target late in the second half shouldn’t detract from how unimpactful he was on the right flank throughout the game. However, it should be noted that those two shots materialized after Konrad Laimer came on for Raphael Guerreiro in the right-back position. Maybe the presence of an overlapping right-back instead of an inverted one would help Sané find some consistency. The curious case of Leroy Sané at Bayern Munich continues.