Franck Ribery: Bayern Munich's game-changer and MD16's Man of the Matchday
He may have been the oldest player on the pitch by quite some distance come full time at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday, but 35-year-old Franck Ribery showed he has still got plenty to offer Bayern Munich by netting a potentially season-defining winner to down RB Leipzig 1-0.
Niko Kovac's side went into the Matchday 16 encounter knowing they had a chance to cut the deficit to Borussia Dortmund down to six points following BVB's surprise 2-1 defeat at Fortuna Düsseldorf a day earlier.
However, Leipzig approached the fixture with plenty of motivation of their own and could even have leapfrogged Bayern in third place with a win. Yet the game appeared to be heading for a goalless draw as it entered the final 10 minutes, both sides having struck the woodwork as the teams traded blows in a nervy, edgy encounter.
As so often over the years, though, Ribery came to Bayern's rescue. Following a goalmouth scramble in the 83rd minute, the ball was only half-cleared to Bayern's No.7 in the left-hand side of the penalty area.
Feigning to shoot with his left foot, he cut onto his right and jinked away from the desperate last-gasp lunges of two defenders to fashion a pocket of space and stroke home the only goal of the game – and one that could have far-reaching consequences.
While there may be nothing new about Bayern picking up all three points at home, there was a feeling of extra significance about what David Alaba later described as a "crucial win". This was a fourth victory in succession – the first time Kovac's men have gone on such a run since the opening weeks of the season.
More than that, it made the glimmer of hope of retaining their Bundesliga title shine that little bit brighter. "It wasn't a pretty or spectacular game but my players showed incredible will power," said Kovac afterwards. "We were given an assist yesterday [with Dortmund's defeat] and we had to take advantage of it. We got what we wanted today."
Thomas Müller agreed: "We knew what was at stake because we watched Dortmund on TV yesterday. You could tell how important this game was to us. We'd have liked to have played better, but we had the better chances to score. At the end of the day we won, and now we're back."
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