Last Friday, Felipe Chávez and Magnus Dalpiaz turned out for the FC Bayern reserves in the Bavarian Regionalliga. Just four days later, the two 18-year-olds not only made their senior debut for the FC Bayern first team, they even made it into the starting XI. In the friendly against Grasshopper Club Zürich, they both played 61 minutes - and it was barely noticeable that they usually ply their trade three tiers lower down. But who exactly are Felipe Chávez and Magnus Dalpiaz?
Felipe Chávez – attacking midfielder
Felipe ‘Pippo’ Chávez arrived at the FC Bayern Campus from the FC Augsburg youth set-up in the summer of 2019. He progressed through all of the record champions' youth teams there before moving up to the reserves in January of this year. The 18-year-old is firmly established there and has started all three Regionalliga games so far (one goal, one assist). The technically gifted left-footer and set-piece taker for the reserves only recently signed a long-term contract extension in July. He also caught the attention of head coach Vincent Kompany with his repeated good performances, enthusiasm and consistency. The Peru U20 international earned his first appearance for the first team in the last match of pre-season.
Unusual role
Chávez, who is usually at home in attacking midfield and looks to finish from any position, played in a defensive role alongside Tom Bischof, which was rather unusual for him. He mastered the challenge with flying colours and helped to ensure the Swiss record champions hardly created any chances in the first half. In the 12th minute, he even had the chance to get involved in attack himself: After pirouetting around his opponent, he fired the ball just over the crossbar from over 20 metres out.
"It's a great honour to be able to train and play together with such global stars. But above all to be able to learn from them," he said after his debut. Chávez wasn't the only youngster on the pitch: "I'm happy for all my teammates, who I've known for so long. That makes the whole thing even more special than it already is."
Magnus Dalpiaz – Right-back
Magnus “Maggi” Dalpiaz has been an FC Bayern Munich player since January 2019 and has progressed through all of the youth departments. The Austria U18 international usually plays on the right flank, but can also be deployed in central defence. Dalpiaz is characterised by his great attacking drive. In the last U19 season, the right-footer scored four times in one game against Greuther Fürth.
Last season, he made five appearances for the reserves. The 18-year-old has been firmly established there since the summer and played the whole 90 minutes in all three league matches. At the same time, Dalpiaz is currently training regularly with the senior players and was included in the squad for all three pre-season friendlies. While he was on the bench against Lyon and Tottenham, he was also given his first start for the senior team against Grasshoppers.
“Proud and grateful“
Usually deployed at right-back for the reserves, Dalpiaz played on the left flank alongside MinJae Kim on Tuesday evening. He worked in perfect harmony with Serge Gnabry there and, using his attacking drive, initiated a dangerous attack in the tenth minute with a pinpoint pass.
The son of former Austrian national ice hockey goalkeeper Claus Dalpiaz also had everything under control defensively against Grasshoppers and prevented them from creating any major chances on his side. "I'm incredibly proud and grateful to have been given this opportunity. Hopefully it's just the beginning and I'm looking forward to more," said the debutant, reflecting on the game two days later. "It was all the nicer to have teammates and friends in the team who I've known for so long and with whom I was able to share the experience."
Don’t miss Vincent Kompany’s pre-Stuttgart press conference on Friday:
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