Aleksandar Pavlovic (19) is becoming the game-winner at FC Bayern. After the 3-1 win against Gladbach, the homegrown team looked back.
Highlights are such an issue in FC Bayern games, they don’t happen that often anymore. After the staid 0:1 against Bremen two weeks ago, the results in Augsburg (3:2) and against Gladbach (3:1) were good again, but the presentation still leaves a lot to be desired. Matthijs de Ligt, for example, found the performance on Saturday “not outstanding”, but rather “solid”.
Pavlovic provides an important equalizer
Who knows what would have happened if Aleksandar Pavlovic hadn’t scored the equalizer against Gladbach before half-time. In any case, the goal scorer’s performance to make it 1-1 was once again idle, at least “solid”. “Pavlovic is really great,” said President Herbert Hainer, for example. “How well he plays, how calm he is on the ball. I think it’s great how he does it.”
After fine preparatory work by Thomas Müller, who was able to celebrate his 500th victory in a Bayern jersey, Pavlovic stayed cool in front of Gladbach keeper Moritz Nicolas and, as in Augsburg, scored Munich’s first important goal. He thought it was “fantastic” himself, especially since it was the first goal in the Allianz Arena after his goal debut a week ago.
Former ball boy, now goalscorer
The very place that Pavlovic has known inside and out since this season. “I was a ball boy here for several years, playing endless games,” he looked back. “Then scoring here in the stadium is even nicer. I grew up here, grew up here, FC Bayern means everything to me.”
And FC Bayern can be happy to be able to trust a homegrown player like Pavlovic. Coach Thomas Tuchel later gave his protégé a “big compliment”. “Aleks plays very confidently, plays the way he trains. He’s a fine footballer and a fine guy.” In the absence of the injured Joshua Kimmich and Konrad Laimer, the 19-year-old received Tuchel’s trust again, playing in the double six alongside Leon Goretzka, while Raphael Guerreiro surprisingly took a seat on the bench. “I’m just playing football, the way I always do,” he explains modestly. “When it looks so beautiful, it makes me even happier.”
Praise for an “outstanding job”
So has the six, which as we know didn’t come again in the summer and wasn’t pushed further in the winter, finally found? “Now let’s just wait and see what misery we have with injuries,” said President Hainer with a grin. “I wouldn’t want to predict anything from week to week.” Although Jan-Christian Dreesen added: “Alex has simply established himself there now and is doing an excellent job – and that makes us all happy.”
Nevertheless, the CEO remains cautious about the upcoming transfer window: “What I learned from colleague Karl-Heinz Rummenigge: Always only look at the next games and don’t look further ahead than one season. And that’s how we’re doing it now. ”