Daily Schmankerl: Joshua Kimmich says RB Leipzig is top competitor; Willie Sagnol defends Bayern Munich’s Benjamin Pavard; Joshua Zirkzee still negotiating with Everton and Parma; Schalke 04’s pitch taking internal heat; and MORE!

Kimmich says Leipzig is Bayern’s biggest foe (Bundesliga.com)

Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich did not mince words when identifying who the biggest threat was to the Bavarians this season.

“At the moment, it’s Leipzig. They’re second in the table and I think they play really good football,” said Kimmich to Bundesliga.com. “They concede less goals and always score more goals than their opponents, so they win their games – not always clearly but like us winning 1-0, ok not like us, we are not winning 1-0, we’re winning 3-2 or something like this because we concede more goals than Leipzig... but at the moment they’re really consistent and win their games, so they are our biggest rivals at the moment.”

Die Roten Bullen might have dropped a 3-2 decision to Mainz 05 yesterday, but Kimmich has a point. With Borussia Dortmund in the midst of a slide, RB Leipzig appears to be the squad most ready to go toe-to-toe with Bayern Munich.

Sagnol defends Pavard (Sport Bild)

It has not been a banner season for Bayern Munich right-back Benjamin Pavard so far, but his countryman Willie Sagnol has come his defense and said Pavard is still “one of the best in his position.”

“Pavard has numerous qualities that helped him a lot in his first season at Bayern,” says compatriot Willy Sagnol at “Eurosport.fr.” The French world champion is “so broadly positioned” that there is not “one outstanding strength” that you immediately notice. Pavard is “very complete.” But one underestimates him sometimes because it is “difficult to name what he does particularly well.”

Sagnol continues: “He is consistent in his performance, thorough and he works very hard. He may have slight deficits in a duel, but really only slight.”

Pavard is yet another Bayern Munich player who has had trouble in finding his best form following an injury. There is even some speculation that the Frenchman is not operating at 100% even now.

Of late — and excluding his unfortunate handball against FC Augsburg — Pavard has been better. The last two weeks have shown that he could be back on an upward trend and given how much better Bayern Munich operates with an in-form Pavard, that can only be a good thing for Hansi Flick.

Talks still on, but no agreement yet for Zirkzee (@FabrizioRomano)

While there has not been much news about Joshua Zirkzee over the past few days, Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano is reporting that Bayern Munich is still involved in negotiations with Everton and Parma, but no agreement with either club has been made:

It would appear that both Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Koln are both out of the running for Zirkzee. Frankfurt’s loan agreement with Luka Jovic effectively killed off that potential deal. Jovic scored another goal for Die Adler yesterday in the squad’s 5-1 win over Arminia Bielefeld, which gives him three scores in two games.

Bavarian Grass Works Mini: Schalke’s pitch getting hammered everywhere (Abendzeitung)

We wrote on Friday about the poor state of Schalke 04’s playing surface and now Abendzeitung is piling on with this headline: “Schalke welcomes Bayern to a royal blue cow pasture.”

Cold...so cold.

Even Schalke’s management and coaching staff are unhappy with the pitch:

“Because of the English week it was no different,” said S04 press spokesman Marc Siekmann. “The plan is to change the grass after the Munich game depending on the weather.” Even Schalke coach Christian Gross does not believe that the royal blue field is an advantage for the home team, who are definitely defensive and wait-and-see: “The grass bothers me too, it is not ideal.”

Sargent with a golazo (@ESPN)

Werder Bremen stomped Hertha Berlin 4-1 on Saturday, but it was this goal from Josh Sargent that stole the show: