As bitter as Serge Gnabry’s absence is for Bayern Munich in the final stretch of the season, Jamal Musiala is at least hitting top form just in time.
Oliver Kahn’s controversial comments may have provided the perfect motivational spark for Jamal Musiala. The Germany winger had been sidelined for months with a broken fibula and a serious ankle dislocation, had made a mixed return to action, and then suffered a fresh setback that ruled him out of the March internationals.
“He should sit out the World Cup,” the former Bayern Munich chairman stated on Sky eleven days ago. “If I sense that something is off in my game, I have to work on myself to regain full fitness.” His remarks triggered a public outcry, widespread messages of support for Musiala and, ultimately, an impressive on-field response from the 23-year-old attacker.
FC Bayern’s Jamal Musiala has delivered three impressive performances in succession.
In Bayern Munich’s subsequent 5-0 win over FC St. Pauli, Musiala returned to the starting line-up for the first time in over a month. He showed his trademark poise and pace, scoring the historic 101st goal of the Bundesliga season and creating another.
In the spectacular 4-3 Champions League quarter-final second-leg win over Real Madrid, he firstly drew an early yellow card from Eduardo Camavinga—who was later dismissed—with a trademark dribble, then delivered a decisive backheel assist for Luis Díaz’s equaliser. He delivered that assist after replacing Serge Gnabry, who had occupied Musiala’s preferred central attacking midfield slot during his lay-off.
Three days later, Gnabry suffered a right thigh adductor strain in training. The 30-year-old will miss Bayern’s title run-in and is also doubtful for the World Cup, where he and Musiala compete for the same spot.
As expected, Musiala slotted into the starting line-up in place of Gnabry for the title-winning gala against VfB Stuttgart. Time and again he went on dribbling runs, tearing holes in the Stuttgart defence; one such run ultimately led to Raphael Guerreiro’s equaliser. That made it four goals or assists in three games for the young playmaker. At half-time, manager Vincent Kompany replaced him as a precaution. “That was the plan,” Musiala confirmed.
FC Bayern: Raphael Guerreiro and Lennart Karl also offer cause for optimism
For FC Bayern, Musiala’s return to form could not have arrived at a better time, given Gnabry’s absence. “It’s actually a coincidence that Serge’s injury has happened now and Jamal isn’t that far off,” Kompany said even before the Stuttgart match. He then added, almost incredulously: “We’ve played a large part of this season successfully without Jamal. But just as Serge is no longer here, we have a fit Jamal back.”
Since the March international break, when Musiala was working individually on his comeback in Munich, Kompany sensed “that he’s getting a bit of freedom again”. At the same time, however, the manager is tempering expectations: “I can’t really put all the pressure on Jamal right now. I don’t think that would be fair.” With 21 goal contributions, Gnabry is FC Bayern’s fourth-highest scorer this season behind Harry Kane, Luis Díaz and Michael Olise; he has consistently delivered strong performances, particularly in the top-tier matches.
Yet Kompany was not solely impressed by Musiala’s showing against Stuttgart. Raphael Guerreiro also put himself in the frame for a starting role in the DFB-Pokal semi-final against Bayer Leverkusen and the Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain, scoring a goal that underlined his candidacy. Lennart Karl has returned to training after overcoming a muscle tear and could feature soon.
Jamal Musiala: His performance statistics this season
| Games 16 | 16 minutes |
| minutes | 633 goals |
| Goals | 4 assists |
| assists | 5 |