Olise, Musiala & Neuer shine in Bayern's comeback show in Leipzig

You just wanted to put your arm round him. Although Michael Olise and Alphonso Davies were already doing that in the moment. We’re talking, of course, about Jamal Musiala, one of the stars of the show in the second half in FC Bayern’s storming 5-1 win at RB Leipzig. On this cold January evening in Leipzig, everyone who supports Bayern, whether in the stadium or watching on their screens, was delighted to see the FCB number 10 beaming from ear to ear. Musiala is back. And how. 

196 days on from his serious injury, the 22-year-old made his eagerly awaited comeback on Saturday, coming on for the impressive Serge Gnabry in the 87th minute. Less than a minute later, the magician's twinkle toes were already at play again. Musiala touched the ball on to the outstanding Olise for the final goal, registering his first assist straight away after his comeback. The scenes that followed on the Leipzig turf were beautiful, and probably left some Bayern fans fighting back tears.

Everyone pleased for Musiala

Olise initially wheeled away in celebration after his splendid left-footed finish, but then turned around when he realised what had just happened. He ran to his mate Musiala, hugged him and ran together with Alphonso Davies, who also returned against Leipzig following a brief illness, over to the riotous Bayern fans section. Already one of the highlight moments of this season. Back in the centre circle, Joshua Kimmich – an equally welcome returnee on this magnificent evening – came up to Musiala with clenched fists, while the usually nonchalant Olise waved his arms to encourage the away supporters to make even more noise. What more could the Bayern heart desire?

“We’re all so incredibly pleased for him. We’ve seen every day how hard he’s worked, how he’s battled to get back quickly,” said Aleks Pavlović.  “He’s a world-class player. We’re happy he’s back now and that we can play with him again.”

Substitute Olise chases more records

As well as the comebacks of Musiala, Davies and Kimmich, the performance of Olise was one of the high points of this primetime clash. The Frenchman, who otherwise barely misses a minute for Bayern, was given a well-earned rest to start with in Leipzig before coming off the bench to replace Lennart Karl after 56 minutes. Although it was more like flying off, as he raced down the right wing and past the Leipzig defence from the moment he was brought on. The scoreboard at the end showed one goal and three assists for the 24-year-old. The only players to previously record four goal contributions as a substitute in a Bundesliga match since 2004 were Miroslav Klose in September 2004 for Bremen against Bochum (also four) and Robert Lewandowski for Bayern against Wolfsburg (five) in September 2015.

Olise set up Pavlović (85th minute) for 4-1 in Bayern's outstanding second half, delivered a corner directly onto Jonathan Tah's head, who made it 3-1 (82’), and had also set up Harry Kane for his crucial strike that made it 2-1 (67’). In this move, with the game still on a knife edge, he crossed from the right to the Englishman at the far post. Kane took advantage of Ridle Baku's slip and slotted the ball into the near corner. Only Kane himself in the 2023/24 campaign (22) and Lewandowski in 2020/21 (23) have scored more goals than the British goal-getter after 18 matchdays of the season.

The momentum shift

Leading up to Kane’s goal, the momentum in this memorable match had slowly shifted in Munich's favour. Before that, Leipzig had produced a very strong home performance and had the Bavarians on the brink of defeat – which, of course, is difficult to comprehend at first glance given the 5-1 final score. “They caused us real problems in the first half, they were clearly better,” acknowledged head coach Vincent Kompany. “But the second half, my word – what the guys produced there. I believe we ran six kilometres more than the opponents in the second half. It was old school: showing mentality, running, battling, tackling, getting forward.”

Neuer’s world-class saves

Among the numerous big chances in the second half – it was 8-6 to Bayern in this statistic in the end – a brilliant goalkeeper was also a big factor. Manuel Neuer produced two world-class saves, first to deny Rômulo and then one-v-one against Yan Diomande, who couldn’t beat the FCB captain from close range with the score at 2-1.

Gnabry with 100th Bayern goal

Along with Musiala, Olise and Neuer, Kimmich and Gnabry also deserve special mentions from the impressive Bayern collective. It was Gnabry who equalised in the 50th minute after a strong interception by Dayot Upamecano, underlining his good early form in the new year. It was the Germany international’s 100th goal for Bayern in his 308th appearance in all competitions, and it was also the fourth consecutive Bundesliga game in which he’s been directly involved in a goal (two goals, two assists). With 11 goal contributions in total (six goals, five assists), he’s just one away from his tally for the whole of the previous campaign.

Driving force Kimmich hadn’t featured since picking an injury in the meeting with Mainz on 14 December. After his introduction in place of the bruised Leon Goretzka at half-time, Bayern took control of the game more and more. It looked very different for large parts of the first half.

What happened in the first half

Neuer had to make a superb save from RB striker Rômulo after just four minutes. And three minutes later, the home fans were on the verge of celebrating a goal but Antonio Nusa jumped into the ball from a cross and it whizzed just past the left post. Munich shook it off briefly and then registered their first attacking actions. Kane played a dream pass between the defence into the path of Karl, who wanted to set up Luis Díaz in the centre, but the square ball to the Colombian was a little too heavy (15').

With 20 minutes gone, Neuer was beaten when Rômulo finished off a pacey cross from Germany international David Raum to give the hosts the lead. Bayern may have had 63 percent possession at this point, but RB were in front in almost every other statistic: 5-2 shots, 3-0 big chances and 57 percent duels won made their lead not undeserved. In this period, Leipzig could’ve taken the game in a different direction, with Nusa missing a glorious chance one-on-one in front Neuer just four minutes after the opener. Relief for Bayern.

Until half-time, the German champions kept pushing forward but failed to make the most of the space available. At the end of the first half, RB had recorded 8-2 shots inside the penalty area. Bayern under Vincent Kompany have never conceded as many expected goals in the first half of a competitive match as they did in Leipzig (1.73). It was also the first time they’ve been behind at half-time in the league since their last away game at RB on Matchday 32 of the previous season. On that occasion, FCB were 2-0 down but ended up claiming a dramatic 3-3 draw. This time, the final result made an even bigger statement. 

Bayern are the comeback kings

Kompany’s men have now earned 14 points from losing positions this season, the most in the Bundesliga and already level with last year’s tally. “We’ve often been behind this season but have always come back, and we vowed to do that again today at half-time,” said captain Neuer. Bayern also scored at least twice for the 26th league game in a row, extending a record in the German top flight.

Yet there was much more to this away victory in Saxony than statistics, more than the confirmation of a comfortable lead at the top of the table, more than a comeback win. This emphatic success was one of the standout matches of the season so far, a game that demonstrated to the fans once again why FC Bayern is their club. It's not just about working hard and celebrating success here; it's first and foremost about resilience, community and emotions. You only have to look at the scenes after the final whistle in front of the stands, with Musiala being called forward while the fans chant “Only FCB will be German champions” and “Super Bayern, Super Bayern” – and see how the young talisman beams with joy. A picture that captures the soul of Bayern. And then everyone embraces each other again.