Jamal Musiala: The Bayern Munich teenager's top 5 milestones and MD15's Man of the Matchday
With teenage star Jamal Musiala making his 100th appearance in Bayern Munich's 2-0 win away to Schalke on Saturday evening, what better way to mark the occasion than by tracking the most outstanding moments of his meteoric rise to date?
1) Bayern’s youngest ever Bundesliga player (20 June 2020)
Musiala is currently wreaking a trail of destruction all over Germany, with more direct goal involvements so far this season than any other Bayern man (15 in 15 appearances) - more than any other player in the Bundesliga, in fact. It seems scarcely believable that it is just a little over two years since the attacking midfield maestro first graced the Bundesliga stage. At the tender age of 17 and 115 days, fresh-faced Musiala became the youngest ever in Bayern’s illustrious list of players to make a league appearance. He came on in the 88th minute of a 3-1 win against Freiburg as a substitute for Thomas Müller – a man Musiala had admiringly called one of the best in the world at the position he has made his own this season for Julian Nagelsmann’s side, as a number 10 behind the strikers.
Watch: The best of Jamal Musiala
2) Bayern’s youngest ever Bundesliga scorer (18 September 2020)
Musiala is a young man with an insatiable habit for seizing the limelight on the pitch. Having continued to impress then Bayern coach Hansi Flick in the 2020 summer break, he was given a second brief substitute appearance for Bayern in the opening match of the 2020/21 season at home to Schalke. A mere nine minutes after coming on for Serge Gnabry, Musiala cut inside to fire in for his first league strike. In doing so he became Bayern’s youngest ever goalscorer– at the age of 17 and 205 days – a record he held until this season when Mathys Tel scored against VfB Stuttgart aged 17 years, 136 days. Schalke fans nervous at the prospect of facing a buoyant Musiala-propelled Bayern this weekend may not want to be reminded of the result that day: the youngster’s strike was the eighth in an 8-0 drubbing.
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3) Makes mark on Champions League (23 February 2021)
With his sharpness and ferocious talent, it was only going to be a matter of time before Musiala prized open defences around the continent – and sent even more records tumbling in the process. He had already racked up three Champions League appearances for Bayern in 20/21 – the reigning European champions that season – before netting for the first time in the competition away at Lazio in February 2021. A tidy finish from the edge of the box gave Bayern a useful second goal in a 4-1 last-16 first leg win. As he had yet to declare whether he would represent Germany (his country of birth) or England (where he spent most of his childhood) in international football, he duly became the youngest ever goalscorer from both nations in the Champions League!
Watch: Musiala's career milestones
4) Euro euphoria (23 June 2021)
Musiala’s constant creative spark and a maturity beyond his years quickly earned him the attention of former German national team head coach Jogi Löw. After Germany won a tug-of-war with England for his allegiances, Musiala promptly made his international debut during the next international break in March 2021 in a 3-0 win over Iceland. That set him up for a spot in Germany’s squad for the delayed Euro 2020 tournament in the summer of 2021. Germany were heading out of the tournament, trailing Hungary 2-1 in Munich in a nail-biting group finale, when Musiala was summoned from the bench in the 82nd minute. Two minutes later he had a key hand in setting up Leon Goretzka for a vital equaliser that saw Germany through. Another record fell by the wayside amid that dramatic impact – as the youngest man to ever represent Germany in a major tournament.
5) Seals Bayern the Bundesliga title (23 April 2022)
By the end of his second full season with Bayern, Musiala was increasingly tying down a coveted place in the Munich club’s star-studded side. You could not possibly dream of a more iconic moment for his frightening rise to prominence than the events of this Saturday evening in late April. At home to arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund, Musiala slammed in a late goal in clinical fashion after coming off the bench to win Der Klassiker 3-1. It was the winning strike in a victory that gave Bayern their 10th consecutive Bundesliga title, sparking ecstatic scenes at the Allianz Arena.
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