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Champions are determined by how they recover from failures and Bayern Munich demonstrated exactly that. Hansi Flick’s men returned to winning ways in what was a highly focused showing against one of the Bundesliga’s most rugged teams, SC Freiburg. Here are our match awards from tonight’s thrilling 2-1 victory:
Jersey swap: Nicolas Höfler
Christian Streich set up his midfield carefully and the player leading the pack was Nicolas Höfler. The Freiburg never let Bayern core get comfortable on the ball and Höfler made significant contributions in breaking up plays and launching attacks. With a team high 89% passing accuracy and team’s only assist to his name, the 30-year-old put in an impressive shift against the German giants.
Der Kaiser: Alphonso Davies
Just like his teammates, it was an improved outing from Bayern’s resident roadrunner. As injury-returnee Kingsley Coman looked to be shedding-off rust, Alphonso Davies turned out to be Bayern’s number one source of creativity down the left side, especially in the first-half. The Canadian superstar timed his attacking runs perfectly, as he was rarely caught out of position. Supplying 2 key-passes and completing 5 dribbles, Davies is slowly getting back to his imperial self.
Fußballgott: David Alaba
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Modern libero David Alaba was the chief dictator of Bayern Munich’s game in this match. The Austria international supervised the majority of the team’s plays and provided intricate attacking impetus along the way.
Moreover, it was joyful to see that his defensive performance was equally impressive tonight. The 28-year-old hardly lost any of his duels and kept a vigilant track on the Freiburg attackers. After today’s game, it comes as no surprise that Alaba remains Hansi Flick’s defensive bossman.
Der Bomber: Robert Lewandowski
After giving his team 1-0 lead within the opening 10 minutes of the match, well-rested Robert Lewandowski put in a vital attacking stint. The Bayern frontman’s movement proved to be the biggest asset tonight, especially since our wingers were admirably shut-out by the opponents.
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The gunslinging Pole ran tirelessly over the field, deceiving and drawing out markers while managing to arrive in dangerous positions whenever the ball went into the box. His chemistry with Müller, on-and-off the ball was simply mesmerising. All in all, a fine performance from the best-in-the-world that saw him set a new Bundesliga record of scoring 21 goals in 16 matchdays.
Meister of the match: Thomas Müller
In a game where Freiburg made lives difficult for Bayern’s holding-midfielders, Müller proved to be our chief playmaker on the offensive side of the game. Der Raumdeuter cunningly arrived in pockets of spaces to pick passes and navigated his way around a robust opposition defense. The industrious German was the main man behind Breisgau Brazilians’ frequent dispossessions, which consequently helped Bavarians attack in transition.
What a comparison ⚽️ #Müllendowski #jordanpippen #MiaSanMia https://t.co/IMpwW7Gldc
— Thomas Müller (@esmuellert_) January 17, 2021
His performance against Holstein Kiel may have been slightly below par for his standards but the World Cup winner made a thundering comeback to form. An involvement in both of Die Roten’s goals, along with delivering five accurate long balls as well as crosses, on-field coach Müller was our tonight’s meister.