It was the 33rd minute of the game, and Erling Haaland had left the Bayern defence in his wake as he approached Manuel Neuer's penalty area with his giant strides. But the Norwegian had not accounted for Alphonso Davies. Like a true sprinter, Davies shifted up a gear, sprinted past Haaland and denied him a great chance to open the scoring.
Fight for the ball
The scene was emblematic of the Canadian's strong game, who was always on hand at the back when things got tricky. The full-back never lost the ball and did not shy away from a tackle against the Ruhr valley outfit. In total, the 19-year-old got stuck into 36 50/50s for the ball - more than anyone else on the field.
Sprint after sprint
With sprints as fast as arrows, no opponent could match his electric pace. With an incredible speed of 35.3 km/h, Davies was, quite clearly, the fastest man on the evening. "When an opponent thinks he has space and time, suddenly it's 'meep, meep, meep' and the FC Bayern Roadrunner comes running and takes the ball," Thomas Müller said, encapsulating it perfectly. Davies was not only running quickly, he was also doing it often. In the first half of the game alone, the 19-year-old ran to maximum speed a total of 30 times. In the second half of the game he sprinted a further 12 times.
Usain Bolt against Alphonso Davies?
Present everywhere
Davies also regularly caused danger in attack. His move in the 39th minute was particularly remarkable, when he left four BVB defenders on the left-hand side with a strong solo run and was only stopped in the last moment by the fifth BVB player to attempt to stop him, Mats Hummels, who was only able to stop him with a hard physical shift. All in all, it was, as so often this season, an extremely strong performance by Davies. Against Dortmund, the young Canadian once again emphasised his enormous value to Hansi Flick's team.
Distance record and dream goal: Joshua Kimmich also delivered a tremendous performance against BVB and won the game with his superb goal.
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