Joshua Kimmich was the first Bayern Munich player to emerge from the dressing room last night, while the rest of the team watched the penalty shootout between Manchester City and Real Madrid.
Wasn’t he interested in the result and who their semi-final opponents were, someone asked. “I don’t take any of these penalties, I can’t influence who wins,” the Bayern Munich midfielder joked, taking a quick glance at one of the big TV screens showing the drama of the Etihad in the mixed zone at the Allianz Arena.
Kimmich had already done enough that night. As Bayern’s makeshift right-back, sent back to defense because Thomas Tuchel doesn’t trust him at the heart of the team, the 29-year-old kept Gabriel Martinelli in check and scored the winner in a flying and unmarked header in the 63rd minute. . “My most important goal ever,” Kimmich called it with a big smile. Indeed, it was. His intelligent running into the box and emphatic finishing turned Bayern’s poor season into an acceptable one that could yet provide a completely wonderful ending.
On a personal level too, it’s hard to imagine a more pivotal moment for Kimmich in a Bayern jersey. His season began with Tuchel explaining that he needed a different type of midfielder, more defensive, more pragmatic, primarily dedicated to protecting the back four. It continued with the manager talking longingly about his ideal “holding number 6” which never happened while the all-action Kimmich, undermined by his own manager, worked unhappily.
His performances weren’t radically worse, but Tuchel’s public doubts allowed the media and former players to lash out at one of the team’s supposed leaders while Bayern’s performance as a whole suffered. .
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To many pundits, he was one of the main villains of the piece this season, positionally poorly disciplined, a little over the hill, and perhaps even replaceable. The glaring lack of verbal support from the club further emboldened his critics, as did uncontrolled talk that Bayern were considering a sale this summer rather than a contract extension beyond 2025.
Kimmich disagreed with the suggestion that he felt satisfied with the goal, but later admitted that was sort of the case. “It’s not a gratification but it feels good,” says the man from Rottweil, the town which gives its name to the hunting dog.
“I had to listen to a lot (of criticism) this year and received very little support – but it proves that hard work always pays off. I’m very proud of how the evening went and I’m delighted with the goal and our qualification to the semi-final.
Asked to speak further about this lack of support, he said “all the Dicks and Harrys” had been allowed to attack him, while there was “little discussion in my favour”. So it was good, he added, to be able to provide a more positive assessment of his game himself.
Players are well accustomed to the assortment of Harrys and Dicks spreading negativity around the Bavarian capital. In Kimmich’s case, former Bayern players Lothar Matthaus, Mario Basler, Dietmar Hamann and Markus Babbel united to deplore his “hiding” and “lack of presence” (Matthaus), his “jogging in midfield” (Basler) and “his lack of presence”. bad positioning” (Babbel), with Hamann wondering if Bayern would be better off without him.
Munich’s former central midfielders, whether Michael Ballack, Bastian Schweinsteiger or Thiago, have all been subject to similarly exaggerated criticism, but Kimmich was particularly stung by the club’s failure to has not closed ranks around him, the most influential center fielder in history. the post-Pep Guardiola era.
In the past, one of the boardroom leaders or the manager would surely have fought back at the snipers to protect a player of his importance, insisting that they were all wrong. But in recent months, the silence on Sabener Strasse speaks volumes.
Pundits could change their minds, of course, and the same goes for local media, which is increasingly dominated by tabloid stories. But it will be interesting to see whether new sporting director Max Eberl will reassess Kimmich’s importance – and that of other players who could be jettisoned for a restart – in light of Bayern’s progress in the Champions League.
The club is no stranger to qualifying for the last four with a manager leaving at the end of the season – this has happened under Jupp Heynckes (in 2013 and 2018) and Guardiola (2016) – but it is always the most special foray. all the way to the modern day semi-finals, with a manager who doesn’t trust his team and a team who doesn’t trust their manager proving they can win together anyway. Kimmich is the embodiment of these contradictions.
Scoring as a right-back, fighting continually and appearing in the right place at the right time – on Wednesday night, Kimmich reminded the rest of Europe of his and Bayern’s enduring resilience.
(Top photo: Daniela Porcelli/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)