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Jersey Swap: Daniel Baier. Baier’s stellar defensive positioning in the first 30 minutes kept James Rodriguez roaming and searching for ways to influence play. After that, you could pick any Augsburg player — or conversely, no Augsburg player — for this award as they turned in a collectively uninspired performance.
Tip of the Cap: Juan Bernat. Bernat made his first appearance for Bayern since the end of May. He turned in 74 productive attacking minutes at left wing and gave David Alaba a much needed spell of rest. It was solid if unspectacular, which is exactly what Bayern Munich needed.
Standing Ovation: Robert Lewandowski : After Arturo Vidal notched Bayern’s first goal, Augsburg had to stop focusing on Robert Lewandowski as they started to chase an equalizer. He made them pay for the next 60 minutes to the tune of two goals on five shots and an offensive performance that further highlighted why he’s the best striker in the world.
Golf Clap: James Rodriguez : The dimunitive Colombian didn’t score a goal. He didn’t even register a single shot. What he did have was 33% more passes then the next nearest of his teammates, and intense roaming nature that saw him pick up passes everywhere and distribute to the entire team. His passing chart looks more like medically incurable teenage acne than anything else.
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James didn’t do anything flashy or worthy of a highlight reel, but he put together a solid controlling performance that highlights how much he can bring to this team.
Meister of the Match: Arturo Vidal : To be frank, for the first 30 minutes of this match, I wanted to bench Arturo Vidal. Normally a dynamic force, Vidal was stagnant; content to aimlessly push the ball around in midfield. He didn’t make supporting runs to augment James Rodriguez movements and he refused to challenge the Augsburg defensive midfield.
However, when Arturo Vidal finally woke up and decided to run, he eviscerated the Augsburg midfield almost single handedly as Bayern put up three goals in the next 20 minutes. This included one from Vidal himself and a particularly impressive midfield takeaway and rampage that directly created Robert Lewandowski’s first goal in the 38th minute.