Match Awards from FC Bayern Munich’s 5-3 victory over RB Leipzig in the DFL-Supercup

Jersey Swap: Christopher Nkunku

This is a token jersey swap by nature of his second half goal after Bayern Munich had already taken a 3-0 lead. RB Leipzig played abysmally during the first half and while they showed a good amount of life in the second half, it was too little too late. Nkunku was Leipzig’s best player, continually creating opportunities that his teammates wasted. I did also partially pick Nkunku because his goal via penalty meant my bet won (All the weekend Beers covered? Oh yes!). But overall I foresee Nkunku to be in the top-10 goal scorers in the Bundesliga this year, even possibly a contender for the Torjägerkanone.

Der Bomber: Sadio Mané

I think FC Bayern will be alright without world-class talisman Robert Lewandowski. If it was not for Jamal Musiala having a performance of the ages tonight, Sadio Mané would’ve been the first Meister of the Match this season. Throughout the entirety of the DFL-Supercup, RB Leipzig just struggled constantly with the speed of Nagelsmann’s forwards of Musiala, Gnabry and Mané. This is a new-looking Bayern attack and so far it seems much more suited to Nagelsmann’s flexible system. In Mané’s first goal, he was unmarked. His second goal? Even better. He gave Péter Gulácsi the Manuel Neuer treatment. (Yes, I know it was offside but it was still brilliant nonetheless, so I’m going to count it).

Fußballgott: Thomas Müller

As we all know, the Raumdeuter’s impact is not seen on the stat sheet. Instead, it’s his irreplaceable movement and “Football IQ” that allowed Serge Gnabry and Mané to score due to his positioning and passing ability. Müller is off to a roaring start and hopefully he can continue helping the team, as well as helping Musiala develop and grow into the next Raumdeuter.

Der Kaiser: Lucas Hernández

Bayern’s defense predictably struggled. Hernández was once against the bedrock of the team’s defense. Late in the second half, Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt were both subbed on, and it became clear as day that they were not adjusted yet, and in De Ligt’s instance, not up to game shape yet (Thanks, Juventus). If it was not for Hernández, I do wonder if Leipzig could have actually managed to tie this game and force penalties. Hernández figures to be the first center-back on Nagelsmann game sheets each game.

Meister of the match: Jamal Musiala

Musiala was Bayern Munich’s best player on the pitch today. He’s still only 19 (!!).

He possesses elite ball control and a positioning acumen that rivals that of Müller. Two of Bayern’s three first-half goals just wouldn’t have occurred without the impact of Musiala. The first, shown below, is just incredible ball control (combined with just questionable Leipzig defending) where Musiala was able to slot a low-driven shot into the back of the net.