Hits and flops from Bayern Munich’s 4-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen

Leon Goretzka</a> was undoubtedly the man of the match. He had another stormer in the midfield and was also directly responsible for two of the four goals scored by the Bavarians. The 25-year old fed Coman with a splitting pass for the equaliser, and then put the visitors ahead by sending a low-drive beyond Lukas Hradecky in a counter-attacking move he started himself.</p> <p>The ex-Schalke man has dispelled any concerns about his form after the season reconvenes, for he’s been a different beast ever since. Today, Goretzka was a thorn in the face of Leverkusen with his high pressing and buccaneering runs. He also completed an admirable 87% of his passes.</p> <p>Even though physicality remains his strongest characteristic, nowadays he is adding another dimension to his game with all-round displays.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/06/07/hit-flops-bayern-munich-bayer-leverkusen/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Diaby disappoints, but more Muller magic </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_481736" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-481736 size-full" src=https://playingfor90.com/2020/06/07/hit-flops-bayern-munich-bayer-leverkusen/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2020%2F06%2F1247030607.jpeg" alt="Bayern Munich" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/06/1247030607.jpeg 3200w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/06/1247030607-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Thomas Muller, Bayern Munich (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h3>Flop: Moussa Diaby</h3> <p>The French youngster remains a work in progress, after all. Despite flashes of brilliance at various points this season, he once again reminded that he’s still rough around the edges as Diaby wasted too many chances and took too much time on the ball.</p> <p>Despite dominating Benjamin Pavard on the left flank, he attempted shots from bad positions whilst also selfishly going at goal himself when he could’ve rather easily connected with his team-mates who were up in the attack.</p> <p>Diaby is a promising youngster no less and possesses excellent dribbling skills, as he demonstrated in the match, but needs improvement with finishing as well as decision making in the final third in order to become world-beater.</p> <h3>Hit: Thomas Muller</h3> <p>The <em>Raumdeuter</em> was enigmatic as he’s been all this season. His crosses were top notch and bamboozled Leverkusen with his brilliant interplay, but more importantly chipped in with two more assists to take his tally for the season to 20 – equaling the Bundesliga record set by Kevin De Bruyne in 2015.</p> <p>And even though he’s set to miss the next game due to suspension, Muller has enough time to set a new milestone before the end of the campaign.</p> <p>On current evidence, he’s the best attacking midfielder in the world and has been the driving factor behind Bayern’s dominant run post-Niko Kovac. It’s a shame that a world-class player like him is ostracized by Joechim Loew from Germany’s set-up.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/06/07/hit-flops-bayern-munich-bayer-leverkusen/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Wonderkid Wirtz sets new Bundesliga record </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_481737" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-481737 size-full" src=https://playingfor90.com/2020/06/07/hit-flops-bayern-munich-bayer-leverkusen/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2236,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2020%2F06%2F1247247519.jpeg" alt="Bayern Munich" width="3200" height="2236" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/06/1247247519.jpeg 3200w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/06/1247247519-768x537.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Florian Wirtz, Leverkusen (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h3>Hit: Florian Wirtz</h3> <p>That was one hell of a way to open your account. Florian Wirtz rifled a wonderful effort into the far post in the dying embers for his first senior goal, and in the process also became the youngest ever scorer in the Bundesliga’s history at just 17 years and 34 days.</p> <p>Mind you, this was only his fourth appearance for Leverkusen, all coming since the restart.</p> <p>Subbed on at half-time for the ineffective Bellarabi, he hadn’t really tested Manuel Neuer much before his strike but nevertheless linked up well with his attacking cohorts Diaby and Alario, and also registered an encouraging 84% pass success.</p> <p>With 10 goals for the U-17s this season in only 14 games, he is now making a strong case with the senior side too. Watch out for the lad in the coming weeks, he’s the real deal.</p> <h3>Flop: Karim Bellarabi</h3> <p>Bellarabi has had a fine 2019/20 season by his standards, but today was arguably his weakest performance. He was virtually non-existent and made no attempts at goal. The German even misplaced too many passes, which is criminal when you consider he made only 10 of them during the opening stanza.</p> <p>Alphonso Davies deserves a mention for his role in keeping the 30-year old at arm’s length too, even drawing a foul from Bellarabi which got him into the books, perfectly summing up his frustrating afternoon. The winger was unsurprisingly put out of his misery by Peter Bosz at half time.</p> <div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="Bayern Munich close to completing Sane deal" data-url="https://playingfor90.com/2020/06/07/manchester-city-star-deal-bayern-munich/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/06/07/hit-flops-bayern-munich-bayer-leverkusen/2/"https://playingfor90.com/2020/06/07/manchester-city-star-deal-bayern-munich/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> Bayern Munich close to completing Sane deal </a> </div> </div> <p>Which player stood out the most to you?</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">