It wasn’t the super Bavarians that rolled over everything, this time it was more the all-okay Bavarians – but that’s usually enough in the Bundesliga. In the 2-0 (2-0) victory of the Munich champions against VfL Wolfsburg, it was the outstanding young star Jamal Musiala, for whom the fans in the arena were happy to get up from their seats. Coach Julian Nagelsmann gave the 19-year-old a warm hug after his brilliant performance again: Victory number 2 of up to 34 was bagged without much effort.
It didn’t take any of those outstanding days on Sunday, as FC Bayern had caught him at Eintracht Frankfurt (6-1) at the start. A serious, focused performance was enough. “Only FCB will be German champions,” rang out the block behind the goal, which may be true for the eleventh time in a row in May 2023.
Nagelsmann and his new superstar Sadio Mané happily high-fived each other, the former Bayern coach Niko Kovac, now Wolfsburg, greeted old acquaintances and patted Thomas Müller on the cheek. Musiala, scorer of the 1-0 (33rd), was the celebrated man.
No lavish celebration of FC Bayern
“He doesn’t give a shit,” said former Bayern star Michael Ballack admiringly on “DAZN”. “He brings so much with him, is incredibly calm even in the penalty area, you can’t learn that.” Oliver Kahn, FCB CEO, called Musiala’s game “just extraordinary at the moment”. Müller had increased to 2-0 (44th), he later analyzed calmly: “It wasn’t a lavish party like last time.”
Julian Nagelsmann said after the final whistle: “Wolfsburg started well, for us it was partly about not always wanting to play everything forward. We then had a real pressure phase for twenty minutes, in which more goals could have been scored. That Overall it was a very deserved win.”
Niko Kovac rated the game very similarly. He also saw his team get off to a good start, but “then the pressure increased and then the balls just fall as they have to fall. Bayern are too strong for us, that’s for sure. All in all I’m satisfied – but with the result of course not”.
Kovac, who won the double with Munich in 2019, and his VfL were actually able to annoy the favorites noticeably in some phases, but were too harmless for a surprise in front of 75,000 spectators overall.
FC Bayern initially lucky
Bayern, who again had to do without Kingsley Coman (red suspension) and Leon Goretzka (injured), initially found it very difficult against courageous Wolfsburg. They were even very lucky that Alphonso Davies didn’t concede an own goal when attempting to clear (5th).
The celebrated Munich offensive with Sadio Mané, Müller, Musiala and Serge Gnabry could hardly develop at first. VfL defended skillfully. Only once in the first half-hour did Wolfsburg go too fast, but Mane’s goal was ruled out for offside.
Musiala breaks the spell
It was a strong individual performance by Musiala, who had been outstanding recently, that led to the 1-0. It was the third league goal for the young star. It was like a liberation: After that it was the expected game until the break with a goal with good Bayern chances and another goal from Müller, who decisively deflected a Kimmich shot.
After the change came Sané for Gnabry at Bayern and Kruse for Patrick Wimmer at VfL. As a result, Wolfsburg picked up speed again and had two good chances to shorten the gap. Ultimately, however, luck and determination were lacking to put Bayern under pressure.
Bayern, on the other hand, took the pace out of their game and only picked it up again later.