Ulreich voted Player of the Month

It’s a debut that Sven Ulreich can be particularly pleased about. For the first time in his Bayern career, the goalkeeper has been voted as the fans’ Player of the Month! With 19.2 percent of the vote he beat last month’s winner Joshua Kimmich (17.1 percent) and Javi Martínez (14.4) to November’s crown.

The deputy to number one keeper Manuel Neuer has gained the confidence of fans with a string of fine performances. Chants of “Uuulreich” rang out from the away end at Leipzig at the end of October when he saved Timo Werner’s penalty to put Bayern through to the next round of the DFB Cup. The 29 year-old also played his part in the subsequent win over last season’s runners-up in the league as well as the victory over Borussia Dortmund. “Ulle has been playing really well in goal for a number of weeks. In every game he’s made one or two massive saves, and he made even more than that today,” praised Mats Hummels after the 2-1 win at Anderlecht.

His form has carried over into the start of December. The man from Schorndorf saved a penalty from Niclas Füllkrug in last weekend’s Bundesliga game against Hannover before frustrating Neymar and Co in the 3-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. There’s no question that more match practice is doing him good. “Being able to play week in, week out is even more important for a goalkeeper than for an outfield player. That way you grow more,” said Ulreich.

Kimmich on the podium again

Second place in the vote for November’s best player went to someone who’s getting used to awards: Joshua ‘Jo’ Kimmich. The 22-year-old right-back again underlined his evolution into one of Bayern’s key players during the month, contributing three assists as well as countless pieces of clever play. Third place went to Javi Martínez, who enjoyed a special honour in November when he led the team out as captain against Gladbach.