Daily Schmankerl: The aftermath of Bayern Munich vs. SC Freiburg; Real Madrid not ready to offer Serge Gnabry €15 million per season; Bayern eyeing Benjamin Sesko?; FC Barcelona identifies three key transfer targets; and MORE!

Die Folgen: Bayern’s 4-1 victory over SC Freiburg (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich shook off some choppy play early and pulled away from SC Freiburg for a 4-1 victory. Here are some quick hitters on the match:

• A return to the 4-2-3-1 was welcomed by a lot of fans.
• Seeing Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka patrolling the center of the park was met with equal enthusiasm as well.
• Leroy Sane just doesn’t look as comfortable on the right side as he does on the left or when he plays in a central position. Bild made a big deal of Sane being out drinking wine on Thursday night at one o’clock in the morning, but I think that was overblown and not a big deal. It wasn’t that long ago that Sane was chided by Julian Nagelsmann for his effort in training, though, so Sane’s focus will be something to monitor down the stretch. I don’t think there is a reason to worry (especially about the late night win drinking), though.
• Hear me out...Thomas Müller still defers too much and should look for his own shot more. Have I said that before? (Only a million times)
• Europa-Park Stadion was rocking early on wasn’t it?
• I thought Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez asserted themselves nicely at the outside-back positions.
• Müller telling Christian Streich to stay in his coaching box was classic. Terrific ball-busting maneuver.
• The SC Freiburg fans were into “Sweet Caroline” at halftime, weren’t they?
• Goretzka’s header goal was fantastic. What a delivery from Kimmich, as well!
• Nils Petersen made quite an entrance, eh? That was a great effort for his 100th goal at SC Freiburg. Incredibly that was his 33th goal as a substitute, which is a Bundesliga record.
• Serge Gnabry did Petersen one better with just a fantastic touch and quick shot upon entering the match. Gnabry’s goal gave Bayern Munich a 2-1 lead. Nico Schlotterbeck’s slip help a little as well, but terrific effort from Gnabry anyway.
• Manuel Neuer’s save on Lucas Höler in the 80th minute was awesome.
• Kingsley Coman’s goal capped off a nice effort from the Frenchman.
• It was good to see Marcel Sabitzer get on the scoresheet. Hopefully this helps get him going in the right direction. The international break might have done wonders for him.
• We covered the whole “extra man”, “botched jersey number” controversy here and here. I just don’t think there is much to it.
• Overall, Bayern Munich overcame an up-and-down start to take control and got the three points that it needed.

If you missed our Initial Analysis, Match Awards, Observations, or Postgame Podcast, give them a look and/or a listen:

Madrid not ready to make big offer to Gnabry (The Hard Tackle)

While David Alaba might want his old buddy Serge Gnabry to join him at Real Madrid, the club is not quite ready to shell over €15 million per season for the Germany international:

La Liga heavyweights Real Madrid reportedly have no intention to offer a €15 million-a-year deal to Bayern Munich forward Serge Gnabry.

According to a report by Spanish outlet Defensa Central, Serge Gnabry is demanding a contract worth €15 million per year to commit his long-term future to Bayern Munich. But while the Bavarian giants are hesitant to offer such a deal, Real Madrid will not pay such terms to the 26-year-old forward either.

In an odd way, there does not seem to he a huge market for Gnabry and there doesn’t seem to be much a rush for Gnabry to leave Bayern Munich.

Bavarian Podcast Works: Weekend Warm-up Podcast Season 1, Episode 43 (Bavarian Football Works)

Another week is close to being in the books and there was plenty of Bayern Munich news for us to think about.

Even with the Bavarians sitting out during an international break, the news and rumors were flowing. Germany looked relatively good during its set of games against Israel and the Netherlands, too, so let’s dive in. This is what we have on tap for this episode:

• Serge Gnabry is unhappy, but still wants to re-sign with Bayern Munich — and why this could be the right time to part ways. David Alaba is campaigning for Gnabry to move to Real Madrid.
• Corentin Tolisso wanted €12 million!?
• Bayern Munich would rather have Noussair Mazraoui than a new center-back.
• Jamal Musiala’s star is exploding.
• Germany has a right-back problem.

Bayern still eyeing Sesko? (@cfbayern)

Bayern Munich is reportedly still scoping Red Bull Salzburg center-forward Benjamin Sesko:

At this point, it is unclear as to what Bayern Munich would do with Sesko if they did procure him. Would he be viewed as a potential successor to Robert Lewandowski? Would he be a back-up to Lewandowski? Is he a contingency plan in the event at the Lewandowski leaves? Would he be loaned out upon being acquired for further seasoning?

There are a lot of possibilities if this rumor is true.

Barca narrows down search to Lewy, Haaland, Salah (Daily Mail)

FC Barcelona has reportedly narrowed down its big transfer target for the summer down to Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland, or Liverpool’s Mo Salah:

Spanish giants Barcelona are targeting a marquee signing this summer in the shape of Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah or Robert Lewandowski, it has been reported.

Speaking earlier this week on the club’s planned summer business, president Joan Laporta poured scorn on the idea that Lionel Messi might return and instead pointed to one of the aforementioned players as Barca targets.

Spanish publication AS reported that Haaland is top of the priority list, with Salah in a first reserve and Lewandowski the least desired of the three.

This goal is fantastic (@TheAthletic)

Check out this banger from the Vilarreal-FC Barcelona women’s match:

NUFC eyeing up Coutinho? (Sport1)

Newcastle United is looking to make a big splash with its ample budget. The problem seems to be that no one wants to go to a club not able to provide a squad consistently capable of competing for European play.

Can Philippe Coutinho be the kind of player who helps the club push into that stratosphere? It appears that Newcastle United thinks so:

Philippe Coutinho is currently making waves in the Premier League. The ex-Barca player has been on loan at Aston Villa since January and has already scored four goals and provided three assists in ten games.

However, after his loan ends in the summer, he could then play for another club. According to Spanish newspaper Sport , Newcastle United have put out feelers for the midfielder.

However, Villa is in pole position as they have a €40m buy-in clause. At Newcastle, however, the chance of winning the title should be higher. In addition, Coutinho himself should also examine other options.