Match Awards from Bayern Munich’s 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen

Neither Bayern Munich nor Bayer Leverkusen deserved to win this game. The former for their underperformance and the latter for serial bottling chance after chance. Without further ado, lets get into the awards:

Jersey Swap: Edmond Tapsoba

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Leverkusen had a tight defence today. With the Bayern attack not at their best, the 1-1 draw does not come as a surprise. Bayern’s attacks were at times great, that is until they reached Leverkusen’s box. After that, it was a different story as Bayern ran out of ideas and options with a white wall in front of them. A lot of credit goes to Gerardo Seoane and his men for not giving Bayern any space at all in the box.

Tapsoba and his teammate Piero Hinacpie held the homeside off superbly. Tapsoba was vital to cloud Lewy’s space, winning all 4 of his aerial duels. Hincapie on the other hand had 5 interceptions. Had their attackers been as good as their defenders, Die Werkself would have walked away with all three points from the allianz Arena.

Der Kaiser: Omar Richards

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The 24 year old stabilised the defence filling the void of Alpohonso Davies to an extent. While he couldn’t replicate Davies’ offensive prowess, Richards however played a crucial role in preventing the homeside getting caught behind. He apprehended opposition movements brilliantly and used his pace to quickly shut down attacks. Against the blistering pace of Leverkusen, Richards’ strong performance was vital considering the absence of Davies and Lucas Hernandez.

Dayot Upamecano wins this award had he not decided to doze off after the 40th minute. The ensuing chaos in the next 5 minutes had us at the edge of our seats. The back line fell apart and Upamecano was all over the place. At this point, Dayot looks like he might need a couple of seasons to take these rough edges out.

Fußballgott: Joshua Kimmich

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The number 6 had a typical Kimmich performance today. With a mostly stable back 4 behind him and a pro-active attack, Kimmich had a much better performance than in the recent past. Ball recoveries, dummies, clever through balls to the attackers on the move. Like the rest of his team, Kimmich had a few dangerous mistakes and failed to unlock Leverkusen’s defence for the winning goal.

Der Bomber: Kingsley Coman

Despite the Bayern attack looking very dynamic, they failed to supply Robert Lewandowski today who was completely starved of service in the box. They made some dangerous moves but the final ball lacked creativity to get past the water tight Leverkusen defence. Coman was the most lively among the Bayern ranks. There were some flashes of brilliance when he paired up with Serge Gnabry, Musiala and Muller but those flashes just fizzled out.

Meister of the Match: Nobody

Julian Nagelsmann’s men still have to figure out several issues. The backline seems stable for now with Richards at left-back. However, Upamecano and Pavard suffer from consistency issues. Kimmich and Muller aren’t at 100 percent, whether it is due to Goretzka’s absence or a systemic issue is yet to be seen. Coming up against crowded boxes, Bayern needs a Kamikaze player who runs into bodies. Goretzka being the only such person in the squad is worrying and something for the snoozing transfer department to take care of.

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