
Hoffenheim earned praise as unexpected top-four contenders but ultimately could not hold their position. Bayern dominated the season in a way beyond routine success, becoming both irresistible and entertaining under Vincent Kompany. Harry Kane delivered a prolific 61-goal campaign across competitions, yet Michael Olise emerged as Bayern’s brightest star. Olise produced 15 league goals and 21 assists in 23 starts, plus five goals and six assists in the Champions League. His movement, tempo-setting, and precise shooting and passing made him a constant threat, even prompting opponents to adjust tactics to limit his space. Said El Mala also impressed as a young standout after Köln’s promotion, contributing goals and assists from the left in a struggling side.
"A hearty pat on the back to Hoffenheim, the unexpected and unfancied top-four gatecrashers who ultimately couldn't quite hold on. This season has been all about Bayern, though, and not just in the normal they-always-win-it way. To call them the most beloved Bayern team in a generation would be overcooking it the club will never be universally loved, and fair enough but Vincent Kompany's team were not just a behemoth but an absolute joy to watch, not only irresistible but endlessly entertaining, with Harry Kane and Michael Olise as ingenious as they were consistent."
"So much of the club's change of image, as a team at least, is down to Kompany, a humble and emotionally intelligent coach who gives Bayern all the regal flow of their best teams down the years but with added humility. To some it may seem bizarre not to crown Kane the player of the year after a 61-goal season in all competitions. But stellar as he has been, this column would argue Olise has been Bayern's brightest star."
"His debut season in Bavaria was excellent but this was something else 15 goals and 21 assists in only 23 starts in the league with another five goals and six assists in the Champions League. The numbers don't really do Olise's majesty justice, though. He glides past opponents and sets Bayern's tempo, while his shooting and passing is deadly accurate from just about anywhere. That the Paris Saint-Germain manager, Luis Enrique, instructed his goalkeeper, Matvey Safonov, to boot the ball out of play for a Bayern throw-in during the Champions League semi-final second leg to crowd Olise's flank, inhibiting the space the Frenchman could find, showed what an all-consuming threat he has become."
"In any other season it would be Said El Mala, the 19-year-old having taken the top flight by storm after Koln's promotion. Dribbling with confidence and directness from the left, he was a goal threat too, scoring 13 and laying on another five in a struggling side. That led to"
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]