‘My Bayern’ column: Without this player, FC BAYERN MÜNCHEN would have been unimaginable – FC BAYERN MÜNCHEN

“My Bavaria” is the name of the column written by the legendary SPORT BILD reporter Raimund Hinko, which deals with the German record champions. Hinko has accompanied the Munich company for decades.

Dear Alphonso Davies,

You’ve already made a hell of a lot of money at the age of 21. There is only one thing that you have not managed to do yet, and that is to deprive you of a sincere desire – to have a Lionel Messi shirt.

You are, of all people, the fastest of all Bundesliga players with a speed of 36.51 km/h, you came a few steps behind after your 8-2 victory over Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League 2020 – Messi, not exactly 32.5 km/h also a snail, with his frustration He ran into the cabin in a panic. And most recently in the 3-0 Champions League group game in Barcelona, ​​Messi disappeared again – this time away at his new club, Paris Saint-Germain.

Don’t cry, dear Alfonso, may a lot get you back together in the spring in the knockout round. And if that doesn’t work: you’re on your way to qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar with Canada, and you’ve most recently shone as a top scorer. At the World Cup, Messi will surely return as captain of the Argentines. A bit of luck – and…

Let’s leave that, there are more important goals. We prefer to talk about your Bavarian compatriots.

It is not difficult to answer who this team cannot do without. To Robert Lewandowski, The Goal Machine. To Manuel Neuer, with whom I would like to know what his greatest strengths are: the thrilling reactions like the 2-1 win over Freiburg or his sense of when he has to stray so far from his goal in order to shine in midfield. Exciting feel of the ball. There, where also indispensable, in the engine room, Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka, scorer of 1-0, do heavy and punchy work.

Of course, Kimmich, whoever else, ran more than he ran in the first match against Freiburg – it was already the top match – again with 13.56 kilometres. Joshua would likely be at risk of a circulatory collapse if he stayed less than 6 miles – and felt a little challenged. Shown in second place, Alfonso, with a distance of 11.95 kilometers. This is highly valuable because you “only” run up and down the line, so you can’t use the entire field width like Kimmich, the perfect six.

I would even argue that Bayern Munich would be unimaginable without you. You are the team’s lungs and also one of three or four hearts. Because you play two positions simultaneously. As a left-back and as a left winger in one person, since Leroy Sane was allowed to move inside as a kind of 10, dropping 9.76km in 84 minutes of play.

However, you are completely painless, and completely afraid. It doesn’t matter if you have two, three, four or five opponents in front of you. You want to play your way to the baseline. If technology is not enough, you turn on the turbo, inspired by the will to prepare a goal, as in the 8:2 against Barcelona for Kimmich, who was almost ashamed, he asserted, to push the accurate back pass into the goal.

Of course, this can also go wrong at some point if the opponent blocks the gaps when the ball is lost. Although you are usually fast enough to run the lost balls or catch them again with long legs, as if you had magnets on your feet. If not, it would be nice if left-footed Lucas Hernandez runs out to the left, Dayot Upamecano puts out the smoldering fire of the left half, and Niklas Sol, Benjamin Pavard or Josip Stanisic moves a little further inland from the right. I couldn’t believe my eyes to see who ran the most against Freiburg to Kimmich and you. In fact, Upamecano with 11.66 and Niklas Süle with 11.53 kilometers, two defenders.

You never feel like you want to take things easy. Even with the risk of injuring yourself. At least you, Alfonso. Even if you bend in pain – the next moment you will shoot like an arrow. Bayern cannot afford the injury of Alphonso Davies at the moment. Is there a nicer compliment?