Daily Schmankerl: The aftermath of Bayern Munich vs. RB Leipzig; Denis Zakaria comments on Bayern rumors; Bayern Munich gin is a thing; Leo Messi to PSG?; and MORE!

Die Folgen: Bayern’s 3-3 draw Leipzig (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig played what will likely go down as one of the great Bundesliga games of the season yesterday. The contest saw two heavyweights battle to a 3-3 draw in an enthralling game. It was a fascinating fixture that was a thrill-ride from start to finish. Here are some quick hitters on the match:

• What a game! That was a lot of fun and was incredibly exciting...even if was frustrating from a Bayern Munich perspective at times. RB Leipzig was ready to play and must have had a strong game plan focused on asserting itself physically against the Bavarians — because Die Roten Bullen was not afraid to send bodies flying at any point in the contest.
• RB Leipzig took advantage of Bayern Munich’s high back-line and overall sloppy defending with its first-half goals. Emil Forsberg’s deft pass to Christopher Nkunku set up the first goal which was partly on Jerome Boateng’s poor positioning an d partly on Manuel Neuer’s over-aggressive charge-out. Later, Justin Kluivert hit a fantastic shot from a difficult angle to knot the game at 2-2.
• Bayern Munich’s first half goals were beauties as well. After Jamal Musiala subbed on for the injured Javi Martinez, he received a pass from Kingsley Coman, took a nice touch and ripped off a fantastic shot. Later, Robert Lewandowski’s cheeky nutmeg pass to Coman led to the Frenchman finding Thomas Müller for a scintillating team goal to give the Bavarians a temporary lead before Kluivert answered.
• Musiala is certainly showing his versatility. He’s manned the 8, 10, and also played a bit of wing so far in this campaign. His growth and development will be one of the fun aspects of this season to watch unfold.
• The Bayern Munich back-line of Benjamin Pavard, Boateng, Niklas Sule, and David Alaba was often sloppy. Pavard often wandered too far up the flank because Leroy Sane abandoned the area to try and get more involved centrally (which backfired because he often just created more congestion), while Boateng, Sule, and Alaba all just reacted poorly to the game going on around them. They are all excellent talents, but working together was a real struggle.
• Despite his inconsistent form, it is not time to panic about Sane at this point. The game isn’t flowing to him right now and he’s clearly disappointed. As noted above, he ventured too far centrally at times and it had adverse effects on some other areas of the field. The talent is there, but his frustration was clearly shown with his foul on Tyler Adams just before leaving the game. I’d say this is just one of those periods that players tend to go through. When he breaks out of it, I’m sure it will be in a big way against some unfortunate opponent.
• Forsberg was tremendous for RB Leipzig and his second half goal officially put Bayern Munich on its heels until...
• Müller once again came to the rescue with an incredible off of a cross from — you guessed it — Coman, who finished the game with three assists.
• Coman and Müller were absolutely awesome on the day. Coman has established himself firmly as the team’s top winger at this stage of the season, while Müller might just be the best attacking midfielder/second striker in the game.
• Even in a contest where he did not get a ton of service, Robert Lewandowski was active and always looking to get involved offensively.
• Meanwhile, Leon Goretka’s role — and responsibilities — changed multiple times throughout the fixture. Hansi Flick clearly has a lot of trust in Goretzka’s ability to adjust on the fly during games.
• The story of the game was just how inefficient — and frankly poor — Bayern Munich’s back-line was for the majority of the contest. Youngster Chris Richards entered the game late, looked really good in his brief appearance, and was the lone bright spot in what was a really tough game for the back-line overall.
• Oh, and if you needed the official RB Leipzig hairstyle rankings, here you go: Emil Forsberg’s glorious blonde express > Kevin Kampl’s surfer cut > Marcel Sabitzer’s man bun > Peter Gulasci’s regrown (zombie?) hair.

If you missed our Match Awards, Observations, or Postgame Podcast, give them each a look. We’re trying to expand out podcast coverage, so hopefully this is something you all enjoy:

Müller as The Mandalorian? (@433)

I haven’t see The Mandalorian yet...this would probably make it more of a must-see for me:

Zakaria chimes in on Bayern reports (Abendzeitung)

Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Denis Zakaria acknowledged the rampant rumors surrounding Bayern Munich’s alleged interest in him and gave his own brief insight.

“If you read as a player that Bavaria is interested in you, it shows that you are doing good work for your club,” Zakaria said. ”I’m only focused on Gladbach, I still have a lot of games to play with Borussia. And I’ll give 100 percent in these games.”

He said just about everything he could say on the situation I guess.

Hoffman wants U-21 call-up (kicker)

Bayern Munich II goalkeeper Ron-Thorben Hoffmann has been on of his squad’s best players on the season so far and the 21-year-old feels pretty strongly that he has earned consideration for a call-up to Germany’s U-21 side:

“Of course I would like to get a chance as soon as possible,” said Hoffmann, referring to the U-21 selection. “After all, I play regularly and the performances are good. I have set myself the goal of being at the European Championships next year and playing as much as possible.”

Hoffmann definitely is turning some heads with his play and hopefully he gets the opportunity he’s looking for. As of now the U-21 goalkeepers that were called up were Markus Schubert (Eintracht Frankfurt), Finn Dahmen (Mainz 05), and Lennart Grill (Bayer Leverkusen).

Messi to PSG could happen...theoretically (Sport Bild)

Neymar made headlines last week by stating that he wanted to play with Lionel Messi once more. Almost immediately, rumors were everywhere.

So, naturally Sport Bild broke down the reports that Paris Saint-Germain would like to bring Lionel Messi and boiled the situation down to the following questions:

• Can PSG afford Messi’s salary?
• Can PSG Afford to buy Messi?
• Would Messi even bring the club forward in terms of sport?

Accordingly, Sport Bild gave its rationale that yes, indeed, PSG can afford Messi’s salary and can also afford to buy the legend. Even more, Sport Bild assessed that Messi would still have some gas in the tank to help PSG.

Alrighty then...carry on.

Piatek likely motivated by Schmankerl (Bavarian Football Works)

On Friday, there was a piece in the Schmankerl detailing that Fiorentina might be interested in trying to bring Hertha Berlin striker Krzysztof Piatek back to Italy. Specifically, I commented that Piatek’s transition to the Bundesliga has not exactly been smooth and offered this advice:

A more focused approach toward his movement and a stronger commitment to his defensive responsibilities would likely be a huge boost to him.

Well, all Piatek did was go out and get a brace in Die Alte Dame’s 3-1 Berlin Derby victory over Union Berlin. I actually really like Piatek, but he has struggled a bit since moving to Hertha Berlin last season. I hope this is the kind of performance that gives him the boost he needs.

If not, there is always this:

They’re not wrong (@TrollFootball)

Now, a special appearance from our own John Dillon with a note on a Bayern Munich bottle of booze (?!):

Bayern Munich gin with notes of Weissbier? OK (Abendzeitung)

Believe it or not, distiller The Duke has crafted an “FC Bayern München Edition” that could be yours for a mere €34.90 plus shipping!

According to Abendzeitung, the gin has twelve herbs and spices and “fruity notes of Weissbier.”

Gin isn’t quite my cup of tea, but this could be just the thing that weary Arsenal fans need to make their transition to Bayern Munich fandom complete.

— John Dillon