Daily Schmankerl: Real Madrid, PSG were battling Bayern Munich for Harry Kane; Jamal Musiala tipped for UCL performance; Benjamin Pavard settles in at Inter Milan; Manchester United’s team defense torched; + MORE!

Madrid, PSG were also close on Kane (The Athletic via 90Min.com)

Along with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain were in serious contention for Bayern Munich star Harry Kane before the Englishmen left Tottenham Hotspur.

There were rumors of those clubs being interested, but Real Madrid went as far as submitting a (lowball) bid for Kane:

Real Madrid submitted a £60m bid for Kane to Spurs and PSG were also interested, but Bayern Munich secured his signature for a deal worth in excess of £86m.

Kane has been everything Bayern Munich could have asked for so far and has proven to be worth the big investment. How the Englishman’s role evolves over the course of the season will be interesting to watch.

Thomas Tuchel is using the 30-year-old in a lot of different ways and while not every role has gotten him as involved in the attack as many would like, Kane has been extremely good so far.

Musiala names to UCL Team of the Week (@WhoScored via @iMiaSanMia)

Bayern Munich star Jamal Musiala was recognized for his performance against Manchester United with a spot on WhoScored.com’s Champions League Team of the Week:

Despite some of Thomas Tuchel’s critique of Musiala, Wednesday’s performance against Manchester United was a very positive showing for the youngster. Musiala has been battling his form for quite a while now and that was as confident and composed as we have seen the 20-year-old in quite some time:

Bavarian Podcast Works — Weekend Warm-up Podcast: Season 3, Episode 11 (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich is fresh off of a nervy 4-3 win over Manchester United in the Champions League and will have to quickly re-focus itself to do battle with VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga.

With the English week making things a complete jumble for the podcast schedule, Bavarian Podcast Works has, once again, pushed the Preview Show into the Weekend Warm-up, so listeners are not overloaded with our content.

Given all of that, this is what we have on tape for this episode:

• A preview of Bayern Munich vs. VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga, including some thoughts on how the lineup might change and what the score might be.
• Examining why Thomas Tuchel’s lack of a rotation is a bad idea for the long-term prospects for this season.
• Harry Kane is a nicer, less bitter version of Robert Lewandowski
• We are seeing the best of Leroy Sané, aren’t we?

Pavard talks Inter draw in UCL (Sempre Inter)

Former Bayern Munich defender Benjamin Pavard has been integrating into the squad for Inter Milan and earned a start in the Champions League for the team’s 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad.

“In Italian football, there is a lot of aggression, a lot of tactical work,” Pavard said. “I’m very happy to have been able to start today. It was a very difficult match but in the end, we brought home a good result. Now we have to recover. The next match is right at the door, therefore, we need to recover our energy. We suffered but it was important to avoid a defeat. Another difficult match awaits us and we will have to give our all on Sunday.”

Pavard joined Stefan de Vrij and Alessandro Bastoni in the back-three for Inter against Real Sociedad. It is expected that the Frenchman will settle into a consistent role in the team’s back three.

Pavard turned in a strong performance in winning all three of his ground duels and eight of his nine aerial duels per Sofascore.com. Pavard also had three tackles, two interceptions, one key pass, and completed 88% of his passes, while only losing possession eight times.

Pavard was also tied for Inter’s highest rated player with De Vrij and former Bayern Munich goalkeeper Yann Sommer on Sofascore as well.

Aubameyang to...Madrid? (Fichajes via 90Min.com)

It must have been hard for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to think about buying any real estate in recent years. The striker is always on the move and is now reportedly drawing the interest of Real Madrid:

Real Madrid are considering a shock move for Marseille’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the January window as they look to bring in a short-term option up front.

Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show: Bayern Munich 4-3 Manchester United (Bavarian Football Works)

For anyone wondering how Bayern Munich would function without Thomas Tuchel in its Champions League opener against Manchester United, it did not take all that long to see that the visitors were going to be in for a long night.

After a somewhat choppy start, Bayern Munich established itself with two first half goals, which left the Red Devils punch drunk — at least for a little while.

Let’s take a look what is on tap for this episode as Bayern Munich eventually outlasted Manchester United for a 4-3 win:

• A look at the starting XI and why it really should not have been all that surprising to see the names listed.
• A rundown of the scoring.
• Examining Bayern Munich’s ability to put together the aforementioned first half flurry even though the midfield and defense were not great.
• Why fans can take out of this match and what we are learning every game from this Bayern Munich squad.

United’s willingness to defend criticized...harshly (Metro)

After Manchester United’s team defending was decimated by a relentless Bayern Munich attack on Wednesday in the Champions League, the pundits sharpened their knives in criticism of the Red Devils defensive workrate:

Former England international Stuart Pearce criticised Marcus Rashford’s performance against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, suggesting the forward was running backwards ‘like he has a fridge on his back.’ Manchester United slumped to their fourth loss in five games in all competitions as they suffered a 4-3 defeat to Bayern Munich in their opening game of the Champions League group stage.

It was a night to forget Erik ten Hag’s side, with Pearce singling out a number of players, including Rashford, for their lack of effort defensively during the game.

“United are under the cosh because too many of their players have jacked it in. Rashford half running back and Casemiro half running back,” Pearce explained during the game on talkSPORT. “I’m not sure what Andre Onana said when he had a rant at Maguire in the summer but now is the time to have a rant at the back line, not just the back line but the whole team. Too many players who have given up the ghost and that is alarming. United are so off the pace and they are lucky that Bayern have not been more clinical.”

Krätzig explains unique spelling (Tz)

Bayern Munich youngster Frans Krätzig has thrown off a few people with the spelling of his first name, which is not the traditional German spelling of “Franz”:

One person who didn’t really speak but still revealed a secret was Bayern youngster Frans Krätzig. A colleague wanted to know why his first name was spelled with an “s” and not, as is typical in Bavaria, with a “z”? “My parents wanted to do something special, but I don’t have Dutch roots. It has no special meaning,” revealed the 20-year-old.

Bavarian Podcast Works — Flagship Show: Season 6, Episode 10 (Bavarian Football Works)

So Bayern Munich are set to begin their Champions League campaign by hosting Manchester United at the Allianz Arena. While Utd may not be in great form, this is the type of fixture that draws the attention of the footballing world, simply because the names of the teams involved tend to attract a ton of attention. Given that Bayern have not lost a group stage game since 2017, Thomas Tuchel is under a lot of pressure to deliver immediate results here.

In this episode, INNN discusses the following:

• The state of Manchester United heading into the game.
• Who Erik ten Hag could rely on as danger men — Rashford, Højlund, and Fernandes.
• Why Erik ten Hag is under pressure.
• How should Thomas Tuchel line up his team versus Man United?
• Why Jamal Musiala could be a great option vs United.
• Is Tuchel in trouble if he fails to win?
• Changing gears — what is going on behind the scenes at the DFB? Why did KHR resign, and is Nagelsmann gonna be the next coach?
• Why is Gündogan now captain of Germany?