Five top performers from Liverpool vs Bayern Munich
By Josh Ricker
On Wednesday, Liverpool took apart Bayern Munich in the Champion’s League by a score of 3-1, matching the aggregate total.
To be fair, after the slow start to the game, Liverpool dominated most of the match at the Allianz Arena. Bayern were lucky to put one tally on the board, as their only goal came from Merseyside defender, Joel Matip, who otherwise had a great night keeping Robert Lewandowski in check.
Once the Reds got the second goal of the match, it was really game over. Niko Kovac’s men put their heads down collectively and Jurgen Klopp’s men stepped up to add another goal onto the scoreline.
It is not often that Bayern Munich lose at home, and it is even more surprising that they have lost at the hands of Liverpool who have lost every away game in the Champion’s league this season. Three loses to PSG, Red Star Belgrade and Napoli are now meaningless as Klopp get the best result he could have asked for.
This means that Liverpool will go through to the next stage of competition, the quarterfinals, where they could meet up with three of their other English counterparts; Tottenham, Manchester United, and Manchester City.
Nevertheless, onto the top five performers of the match from both sides.
#5 – Roberto Firmino
A quiet unsung hero for Liverpool was Brazilian Roberto Firmino. A very nontraditional number nine, Firmino was dropping back into pockets all night, letting Mo Salah and Sadio Mane run past him, causing havoc for the Bayern defense. The 27 year-old was doing his work defensively as well, tracking back and back tackling whenever he got the chance.
There is no official statistics, but he must have had some of the most mileage out of anyone on the pitch, it is unreal how far he travels in a game. Bobby, as the Liverpool fans call him, was sensational on Wednesday and even though he did not score or assist, he was imperative in Jurgen Klopp’s deadly front three.
His touch and layoffs are so hard to defend, and when the defender finally anticipates it, he will dribble by and fire a shot off. Firmino was not too far off on one opportunity where he tried to beat Neuer near post off a nice little dink into the box. Mane and Salah are the beautiful frame of a Maserati, but the Bobby Dazzler is the engine that makes the whole thing run.