Herbert Hainer lauds form of Thomas Muller ahead of RB Leipzig clash

Ahead of Bayern Munich’s massive Bundesliga clash against RB Leipzig this weekend, club President Herbert Hainer spoke with Az previewing the momentous occasion that has title implications. Bayern has enjoyed a fantastic start to the ruckrunde, having won all 3 of their league matches and progressing to the next round of the DFB-Pokal by virtue of a 4-3 win over Hoffenheim.

One man who has been in fantastic form as of late is Thomas Muller, and Hainer made a point of recognizing just how effective the raumdeuter has been for Bayern under Hansi Flick. With the way he’s been playing, his confidence is sky high and his impact on the rest of the squad, Hainer feels, is just as important as his goals and assists contributions:

He currently has a lot of self-confidence. He’s performing really well. Furthermore, he is someone who is important for offensive and defensive pressing, and talks a lot to the players.

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Hainer even went as far as saying that Muller is in good enough form to be involved in Euro 2020 with Germany, though that decision would rest of the shoulders of Joachim Low and Die Mannschaft’s coaching staff:

Absolutely! I have actually said it already: Thomas Müller can be employed anywhere. You can perceive a big enthusiasm for playing. He’s successful at shooting at goal. One realizes from the outside how much fun he’s having right now. That’s nice to see.

There’s only 1 point that currently separates Bayern at the top of the table from Leipzig, and Sunday’s encounter at the Allianz Arena could prove to be a real statement of intent from either side with regards to the title push. A win, Hainer reiterated, would give Bayern some breathing room at the top of the table; a lead that they rarely let slip once they’ve got it:

Should we win, we would have at least a small lead. And Bayern Munich won’t let that advantage be taken from them once they have worked it out.

After cumulatively outscoring Hertha Berlin and Schalke 9-0 from their opening 2 matches of the ruckrunde, Bayern conceded a total of 4 goals against Mainz and Hoffenheim (DFB-Pokal). While both of those matches were both also wins for Bayern, the amount of goals they conceded from both matches was a bit of a wake-up call:

Our Manager Hansi Flick called it a wake up call. We have to make sure on Sunday that we perform over 90 minutes the way we did against Mainz the first 30 and Hoffenheim the first 45.

Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Bongarts/Getty Images