Taking a look at the under the radar star of the stellar campaign
Bayern Munich have enjoyed a record breaking start to the 25/26 campaign, winning all sixteen of their games so far, the most ever by any top five leagues club in all competitions.
During this run, the German giants have won the Franz Beckenbauer Super Cup, made the last sixteen of the DFB Pokal, and sit top of both the Bundesliga and the league phase of the UEFA Champions League.
Over this period, Vincent Kompany’s side have scored a whopping 56 goals, and have conceded 10 times. The most impressive win of all came on Tuesday evening, where they defeated defending champions PSG on the road in the Champions League.
The first half saw Bayern press and pass their hosts off the park, and they could have scored five times by the time Luis Diaz got sent off on the stroke of half time – with the Colombian having scored both goals before that.
So, there was a lot of digging in required second half, and although PSG did get one back, Bayern were able to show huge resilience to hold on for all three points.
In order to do so, many heroic performances were needed. 39-year old Manuel Neuer made some excellent saves, whilst central defensive duo Dayot Upamecano and Jonathan Tah defended the box expertly well throughout.
However, another player who put in an incredibly shift was Konrad Laimer, as he often does so these days. The Austrian international made a number of key contributions to keep PSG at bay.
Despite coming up against both Bradley Barcola and Khvicha Kvaratshkelia during the game – and the bombarding Nuno Mendes from left-back – Laimer held his own and made an incredibly hooked clearance late on to deny what would have been a likely equaliser for the Parisians.
Throughout the game, the 28-year old made two tackles, three interceptions, five clearances, six recoveries, won 7/13 ground duel, his only aerial duel, and committed zero fouls.
It’s easy to forget that when Bayern signed Laimer on a free transfer from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2023, they were signing a midfielder – and he often played there under then manager Thomas Tuchel.
However, Kompany has seriously appreciated the Austrian’s versatility. He has played most of the current season at right-back, but has also filled in at left-back a number of times, and has not looked out of place there.
We all knew that Bayern’s number 27 was a very athletic player – he had played for RB Salzburg and Leipzig – where pressing might as well be a religion. His counter pressing has been key to the style of play under Kompany.
But he has made great improvements in possession. Laimer has never been a terrible footballer, but he is better on the ball than he has ever been. During the 3-0 win over Leverkusen last weekend, he put two crosses on a sixpence for the deputising Nicolas Jackson – with one header scored, and the other put off target.
So far this campaign, Laimer is averaging two chances created per game in the Bundesliga, more than any other right-back. As for all positions, his four big chances created can only be bettered by ten players in the whole league.
It is normal for the forward players to get the headlines – the likes of Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Luis Diaz. Even at the back, it is more fashionable for Upamecano and co to get the headlines. But every squad needs a player like Laimer, no doubt about it.
When Alphonso Davies is back from injury – if he can get back to his old level, or at least close to it – Bayern will have an incredibly physical and technical back line. We will likely see (R/L); Laimer, Upamecano, Tah, Davies. Extremely good.
