Munich (dpa) – Jamal Musiala is a magician on the ball. With his feet. But suddenly the national player at FC Bayern Munich has also become a header monster. What surprised him most, as he admitted after the 1-0 (0-0) against Benfica Lisbon. “I don’t know what’s going on with my header,” said the 21-year-old with a laugh. The ball fell on his head several times.
The winning goal against Benfica was Musiala’s third headed goal in the last four competitive games. He was also successful with his head in the 5-0 win in the Bundesliga game in Bochum and the 4-0 win in the DFB Cup in Mainz.
Premiere in Europa
“I always think headed goals are cool,” said Musiala. It was his premiere in Europe’s premier class. He wasn’t that strong with his head, he said recently in Bochum and joked: “I have to do more with the header pendulum.” Apparently it works that way too.
Against Benfica, Musiala used his forehead to push Harry Kane’s header over the line in the 67th minute. While celebrating the goal, he then hit himself in the head with his right hand. Look, I did it again, the gesture meant.
“It’s a header goal,” said coach Vincent Kompany later. But it is more important that Musiala appears more and more often in the right positions in the penalty area to be a goal threat. And then he scores the goals, whether with his knee, his chest or his head.
Kompany praises Sané: He turned the game around
Musiala was the match winner. But the pioneer of the well-deserved victory – in front of national coach Julian Nagelsmann, who announced the squad for the last international matches of the year today – was national team colleague Leroy Sané.
“Leroy turned the game around,” said coach Vincent Kompany, praising the Joker, who brought a lot of momentum to the offensive game and initiated the Musiala goal with a cross. “We know Leroy’s talent and know how good he is,” said Kompany. The Bayern coach noted that the internal competition in the offensive wing positions was very positive: “We always have players who make the difference.” This time it was Joker Sané.
Top 8 is still within reach
The win against Benfica was extremely important for Bayern. The desired place in the top 8 of the table is still within reach at the halfway point of the preliminary round, even if six points are currently only enough for 17th place. “It was important that we got the three points,” said Musiala. “Sometimes a 1-0 is enough,” said the new header specialist.
