Bundesliga: Bayern dispute Sané: The man with two faces

Leroy Sané was in a great mood – finally again. After his third Bundesliga brace in FC Bayern’s 5-0 goal celebration against TSG Hoffenheim, the national soccer player shuffled through the Allianz Arena in red adilettes. And he joked in front of the TV camera with his teammates Jamal Musiala and Thomas Müller. “I feel comfortable here. Especially with these two strange birds,” said Sané – and laughed.

This is how they like Sané in Munich. And so the Bayern bosses around contract negotiator Max Eberl, coach Vincent Kompany and their teammates would like to see the man with the two football faces more often after games. Sané as a difference player. Sané as the game decider.

“Today he did a lot and thought little”

In his expert commentary on Sané’s performance, Müller may have hit the heart of the problem with the highly gifted striker. “You always think you want to wake him up so that he just does things and doesn’t think so much. Today he did a lot and didn’t think much. That looked good.”

When he was substituted after the remarkable goals with the left to make it 1-0 and 4-0, there was warm applause from the audience for the player who had once again found himself in the crossfire of criticism after the 1-0 win in Gladbach just a few days earlier. Record national player Lothar Matthäus even downgraded Sané to a “follower” in the Munich star ensemble.

Sané reacted on the pitch against Hoffenheim. The body language was right, the determination, the effectiveness. Anger in your stomach? Satisfaction? “I mean, we’re in sports,” he replied on Sky. “If you do a good job, you’ll be praised. If things don’t go well, of course, it can get a bit harsh.”

Sané: “I’m also free”

The Sané from Wednesday evening could have a future in Munich. “I’ve already said a lot about it, and I stand by it,” said the 29-year-old about the future. He would like to extend. On Sat.1 he also jokingly remarked: “I’m also free.” This is known in Europe.

Eberl noted that it didn’t take a game like that for Sané to know what the winger was capable of. “Leroy has incredibly great quality. And if he displays it like that, then he is of course a player who is an option for Bayern Munich,” said the sports director. It was never said that Sané no longer had a future with the record champions. “The way he presents himself is exactly how we need him,” said Eberl instead.

And that’s where the crux begins. Sané will soon be wearing the Bayern jersey for five years. It cost 50 million euros in 2020. And Sané wanted to be one back then, like the great Arjen Robben was before him on the right wing for many years. A man who leads and scores Bayern to great victories and title glory.

The 10 from Robben, but not a Robben moment

At the time, he consciously chose Robben’s 10 as his jersey number, “because of course I want to lead the way,” as he explained. The Robben number is not pressure for him, but “a little motivation”.

They are still waiting in Munich for Sané’s seal moment for eternity. Is he still coming? Or is time running out? Kompany always relies on Sané. And the coach has a special past with Sané.

“I played with Leroy,” recalled the Belgian about his professional time at Manchester City. “And for me it’s important that I see the same Leroy as the one I knew when I was a teammate. And I have that.”

Against Hoffenheim, it probably also helped Sané that he was allowed to attack on the right instead of the left. “This statement is too black and white for me. Against Leipzig he played on the left and also scored a goal,” replied Kompany.

Eberl: Leverkusen competitor until the end

But Sané comes into his own better on the wing, where new signing Michael Olise has overtaken him. Kompany doesn’t just evaluate his attackers based on their number of goals. “The main thing for me is that they work very hard for the team.” Then he could “live with it if they didn’t score,” he said after the goal celebration against powerless Hoffenheim.

Bayern scored 53 goals in the 17 games in the first half of the season. In addition to Sané, Raphael Guerreiro, penalty specialist Harry Kane and Serge Gnabry met against Hoffenheim. The Bundesliga record, held by Bayern, dates from the 1971/72 season with 101 goals. “If we score a lot of goals, fine. But it’s really just about us winning the games,” said Kompany.

And about the return of the championship trophy to Munich. The score is 42 to 38 points in the duel with champions Bayer Leverkusen at the halfway point of the season. “It is not surprising for us that Leverkusen will be the competitor until the end,” said Eberl. “We have four points, plus goals, and are champions in the first half of the season. That’s a good interim result.”