Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry are clearly Bayern’s future

Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry continue to impress for Bayern Munich, showing that they’re the club’s future.

Kingsley Coman has always been regarded as a top prospect for Bayern Munich, having shined on loan from Juventus before joining the team permanently. For Coman, the issue has been injuries, because when he’s in the lineup, few can deny his brilliance on the ball, his ability to create chances, or his emerging ability to finish off a counter-attacking move.

At 22, Coman is one of the world’s best young players, and he showed his quality against an overmatched Fortuna Dusseldorf side, who tied Bayern earlier in the campaign and were coming off strong wins over Borussia Monchengladbach and Hertha Berlin. But with Coman supplying two goals and endless running, Fortuna found it impossible to keep up with Bayern.

Of course, while Coman has been brilliant since the start of the 2019 campaign, completely displacing Franck Ribery in the starting lineup, Serge Gnabry remains Bayern’s most promising player. After putting Werder Bremen and Hoffenheim on his back, Gnabry, one of Germany’s best at just 23, has been the catalyst for Bayern leapfrogging Borussia Dortmund in the table.

With a goal, an assist, and some of the most devastating cuts seen on a football pitch, Gnabry carved up Fortuna in another all-action display. Even when Bayern struggles, as they did in the Champions League against Liverpool, Gnabry finds a way to shine.

Ribery and Arjen Robben will be on their way out this summer after legendary careers with Bayern, and it looks like Coman and Gnabry are the best replacements Bayern could have hoped for at both wing positions. They have all the tools to be prolific goal-scorers and chance-creators as Robben and Ribery were, and with their quality at 22 and 23, Coman and Gnabry might even have a chance to lead Bayern to greater European success than “Robbery” if the pieces around them come together.

Matheus Pereira in a class of his own

One of the best young players in Germany is on loan from Sporting Lisbon, and while his release clause of 60 million euros is onerous, there is no doubt that Matheus Pereira, aged 22, has been an exciting player to watch on an otherwise horrendous FC Nurnberg side.

Nurnberg brought the fight to Schalke on Friday, drawing 1-1 in a game they should have won with all the chances created. And between the two sides, Pereira was evidently in a class of his own, commanding the ball, ruining Schalke’s barren midfield on the break, and setting up his teammates with golden opportunities. Pereira also gave Schalke keeper Alexander Nubel, who was equally good in this game and is a promising player in his own right at 22, something to think about with his long-range attempts.

In total, Pereira, per WhoScored.com, completed six dribbles, was fouled six times, and completed three key passes. Even though Nürnberg are highly unlikely to sign him from Lisbon after his loan spell is complete, he has surely put himself on the radars of richer Bundesliga clubs, especially with a goal or an assist in his last three performances.

RB Leipzig look unstoppable

One week after completing a come-from-behind win against Bayer Leverkusen’s exciting attack, RB Leipzig were absolutely dominant against Wolfsburg, a team competing for European soccer. Leipzig seem like a lock for a Champions League spot in third place, and they have been playing better than title contenders Borussia Dortmund over these past two months.

Though the scoreline was only 2-0 in Leipzig’s favor, it might as well have been 5-0. Leipzig had several close calls and disallowed goals, as Timo Werner and even Marcel Halstenberg simply roamed free on a Wolfsburg side that had zero hopes of penetrating the Bundesliga’s stingiest defense.

Even if Werner leaves Leipzig this summer for Bayern, the future looks incredibly bright. Not only are they elite defensively, but they have several strong attacking options, namely Yussuf Poulsen who didn’t even feature in this game.

Quick hits

• Augsburg showed up well in Martin Schmidt’s first game as manager, carving up European-caliber side Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1. Of course, they were helped by Sebastien Haller’s injury and an early dismissal given to Gelson Fernandes for a second yellow. It was an incredibly soft call that had Eintracht infuriated, and, as always, it was saddening to see the abuse Fernandes received from fans on social media despite the decision being a mistake from the official.
• Borussia Dortmund defeated Mainz 2-1 to keep up with Bayern in the Bundesliga title race, but in juxtaposition to Bayern’s dominant display against a lower-half opponent, Dortmund did not look like a title-caliber team. They could have easily lost this game without heroics from Jadon Sancho and Roman Burki, and there’s a clear gulf in class between Dortmund’s top five players and the rest of their squad. Meanwhile, Mainz showed great heart in this match and have several intriguing players whose development will be worth tracking into 2019-2020.
• Milot Rashica and Max Kruse picked up assists in Werder Bremen’s 2-1 win over Freiburg and continued their excellent form. Bremen sit at seventh in the Bundesliga, and they will need to continue to be at their best in order to hold off an inconsistent-but-talented Leverkusen side.