The big stage seems to be easy for him. Manuel Neuer made his debut in the Champions League Final – and knew it for himself.
Manuel Neuer won the Champions League with Bayern Munich for the second time after 2013.
Manuel Neuer was – once again – decisive in winning the Champions League title at FC Bayern.imago images
“I made a good game, a great game,” Neuer analyzed his own performance after whistling at Sky. The best of his career, even? “No, I don’t think so,” the National Keeper put it in perspective. After all, his brilliant performance is in the best company – including the Champions League Final 2013. At that time, against BVB 2-1 (Arjen Robben scored shortly before the end), Neuer had already outdone – kicker grade 1. It took him seven years to get back on the biggest stage of European club football. The result today as it was then: kicker grade 1.
Perhaps his greatest achievement in this game was the first: after a steep pass by Kylian Mbappé, Neuer showed a brilliant foot defense against Neymar, and was then in the picture fast enough to prevent the Brazilian’s second attempt. Later, Neuer once again prevented Marquinhos from compensating with his foot, but in the meantime he proved his position and calm at Kylian Mbappé’s big chance. The – albeit irrelevant – coronation: another shining feat against the Mbappé, which is, however, clearly off the beaten track.
Cloth smiles at “distortion of competition”
Perhaps the biggest praise for the performance was given to the 2014 World Champion by the opposing coach. “It’s a bit of a distortion of competition,” Thomas Tuchel smiled at his compatriot’s performance. “He has taken the goalkeeping game to a different level and at the wrong moment for us he was in absolute top form,
as he has been for months.” Neuer was also needled from his own ranks. “We don’t have to pretend it came from anywhere,” Thomas Müller said. “But that he’s always there in this game… that’s why he’s number one.” And what did former number one say? “This is what a goalkeeper from Bavaria Munich must be able to do,” Oliver Kahn said – probably also from his own experience. “If you look at what he has won, you can say that he is one of the very, very big ones.”
