Thomas Müller has been one of Bayern Munich’s most important players this season with 13 goals and 15 assists in all competitions.
It took Thomas Müller just one minute to make a significant impact in Bayern’s Munich clash with FC Köln on Saturday.
Coming on for Jamal Musiala in the 64th minute, Hansi Flick’s side needed some additional firepower to quell a resurgent opponent. After two first half goals from Bayern, the visitors had pulled one back in the 49th minute and were now threatening to level the scoring.
Fortunately for Bayern, these are the kind of moments Müller has built a career off of. With essentially his first touch after walking on to the pitch, the forward received a pass in the middle of the opposing half, looked up and played a through ball towards the on-running Robert Lewandowski to score a third and effectively kill off the game.
Although Bayern would go on to score another two goals and win the game by a comfortable margin, Müller’s immediate impact was undoubtedly one of the most important moments of the game. The German champions rely heavily on their 31-year-old forward and just don’t look the same without him.
Indeed, Müller’s absence had been acutely felt in the previous two games. As the forward was isolating from a positive Coronavirus test, Bayern dropped points in a 3-3 draw with relegation-threatened Arminia Bielefeld then lost all three in a defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt a few days later. In the space of one week the Bavarian giants had lost their key forward, dropped points and suddenly let RB Leipzig back into the Bundesliga title race. Continue reading