Match awards from Bayern Munich’s 5-1 thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga

Bayern Munich won a valuable away victory against Bayer Leverkusen after the most impressive 45 minutes of the Julian Nagelsmann era. Attacking and defending as one, Die Roten looked like a well-oiled machine with plenty of finesse and fire power. Can anybody stop them? Here are BFW’s match awards from Bayern’s display on the eastern bank of the Rhine.

Jersey Swap: Florian Wirtz

Tough one to choose. It’s become clear that this Leverkusen has a mentality problem. The 2020-21 Bundesliga season also started extremely well for Die Werkself, only for the team to completely lose the plot in the Rückrunde. Today’s loss might be another indication that this team’s consistency problems won’t go away. Florian Wirtz was alright though.

Der Kaiser: Joshua Kimmich

Technically not a defender, Kimmich’s importance to the backline is crystal clear. Apart from being a great defensive performer, Kimmich links the attack to defense in an impressive way, a trait that is key for Nagelsmann-ball to work efficiently. His capability to cross dangerous balls into the opponent’s penalty-box was also important today, evident when Robert Lewandowski scored his first.

Fußballgott: Thomas Müller

Creative and always dangerous, it is hard to imagine Bayern without one of their all-time greats. The importance of Thomas Müller is very clear on this fan site, sometimes reflecting the start of a internet cult. That being said, he is a fantastic player who has formed the greatest Bayern partnership with Robert Lewandowski that I’ve ever seen.

Der Bomber: Robert Lewandowski

If Thomas Müller is Robin, then Robert Lewandowski is Batman. The Polish hitman continues to be the best football player on this planet. His 2021 has been nothing short of jaw dropping. It has consisted of breaking long lasting records, winning individual and team trophies, and scoring goals – so many goals.

Lewandowski is so much more than just a goal scorer, but it is what is most impressive about him. His backheel finish today was world-class, his ability to link with all of his teammates has been a normal display for years, and his importance to this Bayern team remains at an all-time high. How will Bayern fare without him? For now, I’m just happy to witness the brilliance that the Warsaw-native displays every single week.

Meister of the Match: Julian Nagelsmann

The most impressive Bayern Munich display in a very long time, and most definitively the most dominant and important win for Julian Nagelsmann. After unluckily losing to Frankfurt, he doesn’t panic nor change anything but fields the exact same starting 11 that lost to Oliver Glasner’s men. Today’s win was, for me, a ‘’trust the process’’ type of moment and one that really broadcasts how good Bayern Munich can be under Julian Nagelsmann.

That being said, I’ll wait a little bit longer to be 100% convinced. Before Bayern’s second goal, there were moments where it looked like Bayer Leverkusen could have been one-on-one against Manuel Neuer if it wasn’t for great defending from Niklas Süle, Lucas Hernandez, or Alphonso Davies. A high press-line that Bayern displayed today could have consequences versus the best teams in Europe. Today it worked though, and Bayern were able to win a game versus a Bundesliga side who have before this loss looked very good.

Julian Nagelsmann deserves praise and credit for the achievement.