Niklas Sule, Dayot Upamecano react to Bayern Munich’s DFL-Supercup win over Borussia Dortmund

While Robert Lewandowski’s brace and assist might have covered most of the headlines for Bayern Munich’s 3-1 DFL-Supercup win over Borussia Dortmund, the effectiveness of Bayern’s backline cannot be overlooked. Alphonso Davies, Niklas Sule, Dayot Upamecano, and Josip Stanisic showed drastic improvements from Bayern’s Bundesliga opener at Borussia Monchengladbach last Friday and did significant job of keeping Erling Haaland as quiet as they could.

In particular, Sule and Upamecano put forth solid performances, especially after the questions that were asked of them after the Gladbach draw. It’s always going to take time for a new signing to come in and integrate into the backline, but Upamecano and Sule showed how effective of a center-back pairing they can be against Dortmund in the Supercup. Arguably, once Lucas Hernandez returns from injury and is fully fit, he could supplant Sule in the starting backline, but for the time being, Sule/Upaemcano looks to be Nagelsmann’s best bet.

Speaking after the Supercup triumph (via FC Bayern), Sule reflected on what was a difficult task to prep for in keeping Haaland, Marco Reus and company quiet at Westfalenstadion. “The preparation was not that easy, everything has to be found first. Today we were a little more lucky. To win such a title, against such an opponent and then away from home, is always something special. We defended it very well and played a decent game. The win is deserved,” he said.

Upamecano echoed Sule’s sentiment, and was delighted to collect his first piece of silverware with Bayern. He showed significant improvements from his performance against ‘Gladbach, where he made a handful of errors, both on the ball and positionally. “It’s my first title with FC Bayern. I hope we will get many more. We played great, with courage and heart. We want to win every game and we have a great team,” he said.