Bayern Munich locked horns with TSG Hoffenheim in one of the games of the season in the Bundesliga. 29 year old coach Julian Nagelsmann’s side ran away with the point at the Allianz Arena against a mediocre Bayern side. Here are the players ratings from their clash against Hoffe.
Manuel Neuer(6/10): Was much busier today compared to an usual day at the office for the Bayern keeper. Managed to make two saves but couldn’t keep out Kerem Demirbay’s sensational effort towards goal.
Rafinha (6.5/10): Bayern missed Rafinha’s attacking influence against Hoffenheim. The 31 year old has been a constant performer for Bayern Munich over the past few years but failed to add his presence in the final third as he was quickly suppressed by a quick pressing opposition.
Jerome Boateng (5/10): Boateng was nowhere near his best today. Arguably the best defender in the world, Boateng, failed to live up to the task of keeping Sandro Wagner at bay as the former Bayern man was a constant threat on the counter while Andrej Kramaric also ran rings around the German International. Boateng looked tensed on the ball too.
Mats Hummels (6/10): Boateng’s international teammate, Hummels also experienced a bad time keeping up against the likes of Kramaric and Demirbay. He wasn’t as bad as Boateng however, making a few good challenges and doing some attacking work on the final phases of the game. The former Dortmund man most notably hit the bar post at the final minutes, shooting in from just the edge of the penalty area.
Juan Bernat (6.5/10): Just like Rafinha, Bayern also missed attacking influence from the left fullback in Juan Bernat, who was given a start ahead of David Alaba. The Spanish fullback played some nice lineup with Douglas Costa on the left flank as well as putting up some dangerous crosses. Bernat was probably the best Bayern defender against Hoffenheim.
Xabi Alonso (5/10): Once again, Xabi Alonso proved fruitless against a high pressing opposition. Julian Nagelsmann’s troops offered Alonso no space and time at all to work the ball in the middle and was shaken off the ball easily. Not the first time the former Spanish International has experienced such a bad game this season.
Arturo Vidal (6/10): When Vidal’s in the team, normally we could expect Bayern to dominate the middle but this was one of the cases where the Chilean international failed to keep up with the pace of the opposition. Sebastian Rudy’s composure and Demirbay and Amiri’s aggression outwitted the former Juventus midfielder.
Thiago Alcantara (6/10): Thiago became such an influential figure under Carlo Ancelotti this season. But against Hoffenheim, the Spanish International failed to provide creativity for Bayern upfront as he was often ditched off the ball by TSG midfielders.
Douglas Costa (7/10): Best Bayern player on the night without a shadow of a doubt. Douglas Costa was very influential for Bayern in the left flank. Sometimes drifting in the middle to attract players, while sometimes he just ran behind the defense to provide dangerous crosses. It was the result of his hard worked cross, which led to Steven Zuber making a mistake and score the own goal, which handed the Bayern undeserved equalizer.
Robert Lewandowski (5/10): Prior to the game, the Polish international was on the back of four goals in two games, scoring braces against Augsburg in last matchday and PSV in midweek’s Champions League fixture but failed to get a clear view on goal. Most of his shots were blocked off by a dogged Hoffenheim defense who fought hard to keep Lewandowski at bay.
Arjen Robben (6.5/10): Saw a lot of the balls in the first half but failed to get in behind the defense as often as we can expect from the Dutch usually. However, Robben was no doubt a threat on the right flank, his awful crossed didn’t help Bayern though and we also have to credit Steven Zuber for keeping him rather quiet.
