Assessing Leroy Sane’s debut performance for Bayern Munich against Schalke

Leroy Sane marked his Bayern Munich debut with a solid performance in the emphatic 8-0 win over his former side, Schalke. It was one way traffic at the fan-less Allianz Arena and Sane was a focal point of Bayern’s attack during his 72-minute shift, getting on the score sheet with a goal to his name as well as providing two assists.

Per WhoScored, in addition to his goal and two assists, Sane finished the match with a total of 34 touches on the ball, 5 key passes, 2 shots on target, 2 dribbles completed, and received an overall rating of 9.7/10. Serge Gnabry was Bayern’s only player that received a higher rating than Sane, scoring a perfect 10/10, securing his hat-trick. Sane quite easily could’ve scored more than 1 goal, but he was constantly getting into dangerous areas for Bayern and was a constant outlet for the quick balls out if the defense and midfield. Against sides that play more open against Bayern, Sane will really be able to utilize his ability to quickly dash into open spaces and put Bayern on the front foot.

For not being fully fit, this is honestly amazing:

All things considered, it was especially refreshing to see how mobile and agile Sane was having spent so much of the past 12 months on the sidelines because of his cruciate ligament tear. He looked quick in his accelerations, sharp in his changes of direction, and his chemistry with fellow attackers Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, and Serge Gnabry looked very strong - there was frequent interchangeability between the four.

Of course, Schalke had to completely change their shape after going down early, but Sane’s pace always posed a threat for David Wagner’s side. He’s the perfect type of pacey player to attack open spaces in transition when defense turns to attack and this was on fully display against Schalke - a true sign of things to come. For a player that’ still working his way back to 100% match fitness coming back from an injury, it’s really difficult to pick out any negatives from his performance.

Highlights from Sane’s performance: