Match awards from Bayern Munich's 1-2 friendly loss to Manchester City

Bayern Munich took on Manchester City in Tokyo in a game that had its moments. Being a friendly game, meant that neither side wanted to go all out and that was apparent on the pitch. Despite that, several attack sequences saw the players give more than they usually do in friendlies. City were the better side and deservedly won the game beating Bayern twice so far this year. Without further ado, here are the match awards:

Jersey Swap: Rico Lewis

Photo by Lexy Ilsley - Manchester City/Manchester City FC via Getty Images

While veterans like Bernardo Silva and Aymeric Laporte put in solid shifts, Rico Lewis was the one who impressed the most on the pitch. Meant to be the replacement for İlkay Gündoğan, Lewis managed to come out on top in his tussles with the Bayern midfield on several occasions. Going up against Joshua Kimmich and Konrad Laimed, Lewis was a thorn that Bayern didn’t want to deal with but had no other option.

Der Kaiser : Benjamin Pavard

With Dayot Upamecano being shaky on occasions, Pavard gave the Bavarians some much needed stability in the back. Shoutout to youngster Franz Krätzig. Despite the size disadvantage, the kid was adamant to haunt down anyone attacking the left flank. Winning 3 of his tackles, his contribution was significant to the scoreline.

Fußballgott : Leon Goretzka

With Kimmich looking too slow for City’s pace, it was up to Konrad Laimer to break up the opposition’s rhythm and stop their attacks.

Goretzka’s substitution in the second half along with Gravenberch added some more muscle to the fight. Goretzka got the job done for the most part with his 2 interceptions and 2 tackles. However, when the opposition decided to step up the intensity, Bayern’s midfield cracked first and that has not been an uncommon sight in the recent past.

Der Bomber: Mathys Tel

Photo by KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images

The 17 year-old firecracker surprisingly managed to put his stamp on another game. He poached a goal from a difficult position after Ederson spilled the ball in the box. His reaction speed and composure to find the net is promising, hopefully Tuchel has plans to help this talented kid find his deserved place with Bayern.

Meister of the Match: Nobody

It was Bayern’s first friendly, meant for the players to test the waters with each other. With a lot of new faces, its hardly surprising that they could not get better than when they last faced the European Champions, Manchester City. We all are eagerly awaiting Tuchel and co. to arrive on the scene and quickly.

Interested in a more in-depth review of the game? What worked and what didn’t? Did Bayern deserve to lose to Man City? We discuss all that and more in our postgame podcast! Listen to it below or on Spotify.

As always, we appreciate all the support!