The title isn’t ours just yet, but what a turnaround!
Bayern Munich came to Leipzig with the opportunity to seal the Bundesliga title, assuming it could win the match. After an exhilarating second-half comeback from a 2-0 deficit, Bayern had the title snatched from under its nose in the 94th minute. While goal difference means that Bayer Leverkusen will likely need to score 30+ goals in only three matches to stop the party in Munich, Harry Kane will have to wait at least one more matchday before he’s able to celebrate winning his first title officially.
Jersey Swap: Xavi Simons
Leipzig had several strong performers on the night, with Benjamin Seško scoring a gorgeous goal with the outside of his boot and working hard for the entirety of his time on the pitch. It’s Xavi Simons, however, who steals the award away from the Slovenian. Simons was at his creative best, assisting Seško’s opening goal and playing a perfectly weighted pass through to Yussuf Poulson to grab the last-minute equalizer.
Der Kaiser: Eric Dier
Dier had a shaky start to the match, allowing the ball to bounce to Amadou Haidara from a Leipzig corner, whose point-blank strike was saved brilliantly by Jonas Urbig. Fortunately, the Englishman recovered well and was strong throughout the rest of the game. Dier scored Bayern’s first goal on their way to overturning the deficit, heading home a Michael Olise corner. In the 73rd minute, he capped off a performance that included a team-high 11 defensive actions (FotMob) with a perfectly executed sliding tackle on Lois Openda. It’s also worth noting that Josip Stanišić and Konrad Laimer put in decent shifts as well, with the ladder managing to do so while playing far out of position at left-back.
Fußballgott: Joshua Kimmich
Kimmich has to be one of the most consistent players in world football. Alternatively, Aleksandar Pavlović had a particularly subpar performance, with Kimmich forced to make up the difference. The Germany captain ran the show, linking up with his teammates well and dropping into different spaces in the defense when needed. Kimmich created a match-high number of chances and passes into the final third, with 5 and fifteen in each respective category (FotMob). Two moments of the midfielder’s ball-playing superiority stand out from the first half are a cross-pitch long ball to find Leroy Sané breaking through the Leipzig line in the 10th minute, and a floated cross to the head of a box-lurking Thomas Müller in the 30th minute. While neither of these situations led to goals, Kimmich did capture an assist leading up to an excellent Leroy Sané strike late in the second half.
Der Bomber: Leroy Sané
Like always, it’s been a season of ups and downs for Leroy Sané, but the winger seems determined to end the campaign on a high. Coming off a goal in Bayern’s last league game against Mainz, Sané expertly smashed home what was thought to be the game winner in the 83rd minute. Sané worked hard in every phase of the game, completing four dribbles, eight recoveries, and winning a match-high of eight duels (FotMob). While Sané takes this award in the end, a strong performance from Serge Gnabry is worth noting, with the attacker putting in a decent shift and contributing significantly to the build-up of Sané’s goal.
Meister of the Match: Michael Olise
There were long stretches of this match where Olise did very little, and in the first half especially, he gave up the ball far too many times. In fact it was a combination of an Olise giveaway and poor positioning from Jonas Urbig that led to Bayern conceding its first goal. However, the impact that Olise had in under a minute of play in the second half was enough to change the game and cement him in his place as meister of the match. Only 46 seconds separated Olise’s corner-kick assist to Eric Dier and the winger’s match-leveling goal. This quick succession of events not only changed the scoreline but also the momentum of the match, as Bayern looked the far better side for the rest of the game. So while Olise may have only completed two of his nine dribbles and lost a match-high 11 duels, it was his influence that changed the game (FotMob).
