Davies, Musiala And Choupo-Moting Write Headlines As Bayern Beat Augsburg 5-2

The DFB Pokal or German Cup is special, and Wednesday night was no different as Augsburg hosted Bayern Munich in what would turn out to be a spectacle for the fans. Bayern would win the game 5-2 thanks to goals by Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting (27’ and 52’), Joshua Kimmich (53’), Jamal Musiala (74’), Alphonso Davies (91’) with Mads Pedersen (9’) and Dayot Upamecano (O.G. 65’) scoring for Augsburg.

A few things stood out at the WWK Arena in Augsburg. Bayern Munich still struggles when it comes to defending but, unlike earlier in the season, is now able to once again outscore their opponents.

Much of that is due to the fact that Musiala is back to 100% fitness and is now developing an uncanny relationship with Canadian Davies both on and off the pitch. Davies spoke out earlier this week about the fact that Musiala and not Barcelona’s Gavi should have won France Football’s Kopa Award handed to the best young player on the planet.

“They may have denied you of your Kopa Trophy, but they won’t deny you of your future Ballon d’Or,” Davies tweeted on Twitter. “Phonzy is like a big brother to me,” Musiala then said to Bild reporter Tobi Altschäffl after the game. “His words surprised me but also made me happy. It’s every player’s goal to win the Ballon d’Or one day.”

The two combined to make it 2-4 at a time when Augsburg threatened to come back into the match. Davies won the ball at the corner flag, then dribbled to the center, where he spotted Musiala, and the teenager then scored with a fantastic finish from inside the box. It was a clutch goal at just the right time and finished up a resurgent Augsburg side.

Nonetheless, head coach Julian Nagelsmann was not completely happy about the game. “I would say it was a classic cup game with a lot of back and forth,” Nagelsmann said. “We didn’t start the game well; the first ten minutes weren’t good. We were very sloppy, and won too few duels. Then we had enough chances to kill the game off early on before the break.”

The positive for Nagelsmann, however, will be that Bayern managed to come back from a deficit, something his side has struggled with at times earlier this season. The Bayern head coach, in fact, has pointed out earlier in the season that the first 20 minutes of a game are key for his side to ensure that the opponent cannot get entrenched in their own end.

Augsburg certainly had that opportunity, and it took until the 27th minute for Bayern to find a solution. But unlike previous games where they would then struggle to find further goals, this time around, the Rekordmeister remained relentless and hammered five goals past Augsburg.

“Unfortunately, we missed many chances,” Nagelsmann said. “Then we had a good half-time analysis and addressed things. The 20 minutes after the break was very, very good. That was a very good reaction, with very good pressing.”

Davies and Musiala were certainly the keys during this period in the second half. But they were not the only reason for Bayern to turn this around. In Choupo-Moting, Nagelsmann seems to have finally found the right man to fill the void left by Robert Lewandowski.

The Cameroonian has now scored four goals and two assists in his last four games for Bayern. In two of those games, against Freiburg (5-0) in the Bundesliga and now against Augsburg, Choupo-Moting started, and his performances will have given him an argument to receive further playing time.

Nagelsmann does not seem to disagree. “In general, nobody is a guaranteed starter; we want to keep up the competition,” Nagelsmann said. “But he made a case for himself today. The second goal was a classic no. 9 goal; he was in exactly the right place.”

The Musiala and Davies partnership aside, the revival of Choupo-Moting is another takeaway from the last few games. Whether it will last remains to be seen, but we will find out as early as this weekend when Bayern faces Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga.

Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcast and the Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA, and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth