Match Awards for Bayern Munich’s 1-1 draw at Hoffenheim

Often, when Bayern Munich play against Hoffenheim, at least one team is going to score a lot of goals. In fact, this is the first time since 2019 that one team didn’t have at least four goals. Unfortunately, viewers were not treated to a defensive master class, but instead saw multiple clear-cut chances left wanting by both sides. A point on the road against a top four opponent may sound great, but results like this allow Dortmund to hope. Here are our match awards.

Jersey Swap: David Raum

Hoffenheim’s game plan was clearly to attack on the wings, and Raum led the charge on the more successful left side of the attack. With Bayern’s back three sitting back, Wingers like Coman and Gnabry were forced to defend more than usual, and Raum took advantage. Raum had three key passes, including the assist on Baumgartner’s goal. The 23-year old German international already has three caps under Hansi Flick. Performances like this could lead to more call-ups for Raum.

Der Bomber: Robert Lewandowski

The sky is blue, water is wet, and Robert Lewandowski scored a goal. Even on nights when Bayern’s attack can’t convert the best of chances, Lewandowski shows that he doesn’t need much to score a goal. Lewy had the least amount of touches on either team, but still managed to score the goal to level the score at the stroke of halftime. Lewandowski also did some things that won’t show up on the stat sheet, including a beautiful dummy to Mueller (who should have scored) and dropping deeper than usual to receive the ball and try to create something out of the attack.

Fußballgott: Jamal Musiala

Musiala has been quiet in recent matches, and sloppy at times. However, I believe he did a much better job in the midfield today. In the attack, he was nimble and was able to dribble out of tight spaces — as we have been accustomed to seeing from him. Musiala completed 93% of his passes on the night. Because the wingers were pushing up higher, Musiala had to stay back a little further than he would like to help lockdown the midfield with Kimmich — a job that both players did well at.

Der Kaiser: Manuel Neuer

In Neuer’s return to Bundesliga action, he was called on at various moments of the match to make big saves. A brilliant double save kept Hoffenheim from scoring early on. Then a few routine saves where — as often is the case — Neuer was in the right place at the right time, making it look effortless. Another monster save towards the end of the match preserved that point for Bayern. Neuer also distributed the ball well, completing all of his short- to mid-range passes — something that cannot be said about his Hoffenheim counterpart. The captain’s presence was definitely felt in this match.

Meister of the Match: Joshua Kimmich

I wish that this award could have went to any of the attackers that normally would have finished the myriad of chances given; however, in the match that actually took place, Joshua Kimmich stood out again as the bright spot. With a formation that required attacking wingers to defend, Kimmich had to step in multiple times to stop an attack before the wingers could get back to help, and after the ball was won, he was great at picking the right pass to get the attack going. His set-piece delivery was a bit lackluster today, but for one notable exception: his assist from the corner on Lewandowski’s equalizer. While the three points were there for the taking, Kimmich did all that he could to help his team get the result on the road.

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