FC Bayern Munich beat a completely overwhelmed FC Schalke 04 in the title race with BVB on the 32nd matchday of the Bundesliga with a strong 6-0 win. At the first Schützenfest under coach Thomas Tuchel, a full-back and two offensive players earned the best grades – and the coach himself.
Noussair Mazraoui recommended himself on the right in the back four for a permanent place, Thomas Müller convinced as the second playmaker in the half position next to Jamal Musiala – and Serge Gnabry scored twice. The winners and losers of the game, the grades and individual reviews of the pros at FC Bayern Munich.
Here’s an analysis of the game.
Match winner: Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich)
Has not been wrongly criticized in recent months, often seemed like a foreign body in the Munich game. But against Schalke, he showed why Bayern really wanted to extend his contract last summer. Went extremely far as a center forward, got a lot of balls and rewarded his diligence with two goals worth seeing. There was extra praise for that in the form of applause from the stands when he was substituted. Four goals in the last three games is a real run.
Game winner: Thomas Tuchel’s offensive idea
Sure, Schalke 04 defended themselves against Munich’s offensive efforts with fairly blunt weapons and generally very hesitantly, but in general you have to say that what the five Munich offensive players did there on Saturday looked pretty good. Before Joshua Kimmich as the only six, coach Thomas Tuchel had sent an offensive back four with the two playmakers Thomas Müller and Jamal Musiala and the wings Leroy Sané and Kingsley Coman onto the field. Nominally at the front, but in reality Serge Gnabry whirled all over the place. Even if the five didn’t harmonize well and a bit of drive was lost after Gnabry and Coman were substituted: Bayern had significantly more ideas in the offensive game than in the previous weeks, the offensive puzzle was at least solved against Schalke. And by the way, Tuchel proved that it doesn’t necessarily have to be Müller OR Musiala.
Loser of the game: Cédric Brunner (FC Schalke 04)
Schalke’s right-back was responsible for the penalty kick and was replaced at half-time with a yellow bias.
Yan Summers: Had to save exactly one ball in the first half and it wasn’t even particularly dangerous. Grade: 3.5.
FC Bayern: defender
Noussair Mazraoui: Significantly more active and better at one-on-one than João Cancelo, his colleague on the left. However, he also lost most of the balls at Bayern and built something in the second half, only to turn his decent performance into a strong one with his goal in added time. Grade: 2.
Benjamin Pavard: Defensively not required at all, but (or maybe because of that) Bayern’s player with the most ball contacts. Valuable in building game. Note 3.
Matthijs de Ligt: The same applies to him as to Pavard. Played a little fewer passes than Pavard, but brought even more, namely almost all of them, to the teammate. Bad luck with a slightly too high header in the first half. Bayern’s best new signing of the season for a long time. Grade: 2.5.
João Cancelo: In the first half he was very often very far up front, but he was neither able to cause any danger from his left flank (only one pass into the attacking third in the first half), nor could he intervene decisively in the game in any other way. Also lost a lot of duels. Hardly had he been mentally labeled as the loser of the game when he got it from Kenan Karaman after a rush and fitted decisively to Serge Gnabrys 3-0. Grade: 3.5.
FC Bayern: midfielder
Joshua Kimmich: Were the only six in Bayern’s 4-1-4-1, could only very rarely have had the ball so seldom in his career as against Schalke (37 touches on the ball before he was substituted). Above all, secured the five offensives in front of him and closed holes. Converted the penalty to 2-0 safely. Note 3
Leroy Sane: A lot went down his right side in the first half, preparing Thomas Müller’s goal to make it 2-0 with a simple but effective offshoot. Grade: 2.5
Thomas Müller: Coach Thomas Tuchel answered the question Müller or Musiala this time with Müller AND Musiala. Constantly changing positions with his co-playmaker, the community was not always free of misunderstandings, as with Bayern’s big chance in the eleventh minute, but they were constant trouble spots in turn. Then just initiated his first goal himself and only used Leroy Sané as a human offshoot. Missed one or the other big chance, but this is how we recommend grade: 2.
Jamal Musiala: After Müller had a big chance in the eleventh minute when both thought the other would shoot, Musiala later decided to just dribble through the entire Schalke penalty area on his own. Because Cédric Brunner accidentally caught him in the face with his elbow, he took the penalty with the support of VAR, which Kimmich converted to 2-0. Grade: 2.5
Kingsley Coman: Bayern’s game was initially very right-wing, which of course had an impact on the left winger’s share of the game. Was initially the least involved of the five offensive players. Tried a long-range shot early in the second half, but was a bit unlucky overall. Grade: 3.5
FC Bayern: attacker
Serge Gnabry: The teammates were looking for him, he was much more involved in the game than in the previous weeks. Went a long way, often dropped back into central midfield, but rarely got into promising shooting positions. Wasted a chance, was unlucky with his powerful header shortly before the break, but then cheekily scored after the break with a leg shot to make it 3-0 and then after a sprint and goalkeeper-loader to make it 4-0. Grade: 2.
FC Bayern: Substitute
Ryan Gravenberch: Came in for Coman in the 65th minute, in a phase in which Bayern hardly contributed anything to the game and consequently could not shine. Impressed with a 100% pass rate. Note 3.
Mathy’s phone: Came for Gnabry in the 71st minute and made it 5-0. The boy deserves more chances. No rating.
Leon Goretzka: Came for Kimmich. Blended in. No rating.
Dayot Upamecano: Came in for De Ligt in the closing stages. No rating.
Sadio Mane: Came for Musiala in the closing stages, prepared the 6-0. No rating.
