It has been a long time in the cold for Bayern Munich midfielder Leon Goretzka.
On a lightly snowing Friday evening in Bavaria, though, at least that turned out to be the case literally rather than figuratively.
The 29-year-old has been frozen out of the Bayern squad at times this season and seen his place in the pecking order fall below youngster Aleksandar Pavlović and newcomer João Palhinha. With both those players unavailable, though, Vincent Kompany called on Goretzka to start vs. FC Augsburg next to his old midfield partner, Joshua Kimmich, for the second match in a row.
And boy, was it like old times.
“Leon’s story is a story of a squad, of a team where there’s always one, two or three players who think to themselves: ‘It’s difficult for me’ — Of course as a player you’re unhappy. It’s about how you react,” said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany after the game (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “It’s not just Leon, but Leon worked very hard, was very professional in training and did everything to show that he has qualities.
“He waited for his chance. It’s a nice story because there are probably other players who will be important later in the season. We always said we wanted competition in the squad, and that’s what we have right now.”
Goretzka had an impressive performance vs. Augsburg — blazing some of the Bavarians’ best chances at the Augsburg goal going forward, and rushing back to make vital tackles and interceptions in defense and transition. For a moment, the box-to-box player turned back time, to the days when he seemed indispensable in that Bavarian midfield and a transfer away seemed unfathomable.
Those days still may not be coming back. But at least Goretzka is getting one last chance to shine.
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