Match awards from Bayern Munich’s disappointing 0-1 defeat to FC Augsburg

We hoped and prayed that Bayern Munich wouldn’t draw again, after three consecutive draws in the Bundesliga. Our prayers were answered, just not in the way we expected. In what was an exceedingly disappointing game against FC Augsburg, here’s who stood out.

Jersey Swap: Rafał Gikiewicz

Augsburg played a very physical game today, with quite a few players who shone throughout. Berisha, for example, had a very good game, scoring the goal that would eventually lead to Augsburg’s second consecutive win at home against Bayern. But the best player on the pitch today was Gikiewicz.

The goalkeeper made a few phenomenal saves that decided the course of the game. He constantly denied Bayern from scoring and somehow turned into Sommer when he plays against us. His most notable saves, in my opinion, was Sadio Mané’s curler, and Manuel Neuer’s incredible header. Even Thomas Müller, who was extremely frustrated by the lack of goals, had to respect Gikiewicz’s efforts, giving him a knowing grin and a high-five after he saved Mané’s shot.

Der Kaiser: Noussair Mazraoui/Alphonso Davies

As much as I would love to pick of the two, both of them showed up today (although Davies couldn’t convert chances up front, which was quite disappointing).

Mazraoui seems to be giving Benjamin Pavard a run for his money, and at this rate, the Moroccan international could potentially replace him as a regular started for the right-back position. Davies also had a great game defensively (we don’t talk about his performance up front). making a few key challenges that would deny Augsburg’s attackers, who had a great game today. Both the wing-backs were involved in creating a lot of chances for Bayern’s attacks, and despite the fact that none of those chances were converted, it still says a lot about their performance.

Fußballgott: Joshua Kimmich

While both Leon Goretzka and Marcel Sabitzer had decent games overall, I think the award has to go to Kimmich. He played consistently today, creating threats in the attacking zones, but also moved back and helped defensively when he was needed. For a brief period of time, when Mazraoui was subbed off, and before Josip Stanišić came on, Kimmich was forced to stay a bit deeper on the pitch, instead of pushing up front which is what he seems to be getting accustomed to.

Der Bomber: Leroy Sané

Leroy seems to be showing up for Bayern nowadays huh? Both Müller and Mané had very quiet/disappointing games today, and it was frustrating to see players of their caliber not being able to convert all those chances. Bayern’s attack today was aggressively average, and was sub-par at most, but Sané did his best to push the attack further, creating chances and trying to convert them. Even though he didn’t succeed in actually scoring any goals, he was easily the most involved up front today. Jamal Musiala, who seems to have fallen into a rut after his injury, also had a decent game, but wasn’t as important in the match as he has been this season.

Meister of the Match: Manuel Neuer

It says a lot about a game when the man of the match is the goalkeeper. His performances, compared to the rest of the squads, was good to say the very least. He had his head in the game, and made fewer sloppy passes, as he did in Bayern’s previous matches. He even managed to be a threat up front in the closing minutes of the game, with a dangerous header that could have resulted in a draw, had it not been for his counterpart.

Apart from the goal that he conceded (which, in my opinion, wasn’t his fault), Neuer had a great game today, and was (unfortunately) Bayern’s best player on the pitch.

All in all, as enjoyable as this game was to watch, it’s extremely disappointing to have seen Bayern’s performance today. But Augsburg brought their A-game today, scaring Bayern with their man to man high counter press, so fair play to them. All we can do now is hope that the next game goes slightly better than this.

If you want more discussion on Bayern Munich’s loss to FC Augsburg, please check out our Postgame Podcast where you can hear what went wrong, what’s been wrong, and how it might be hard to get it all right until the players and coaches get aligned: