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Xabi Alonso Remains a World-Class Proposition for Bayern Munich
- Updated: September 19, 2016
Despite turning 35 in a little over two months, Xabi Alonso has proven as crucial as ever to Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich since they kicked off the 2016/17 campaign with a resounding 6-0 victory over SV Werder Bremen in August.
Before the start of the season, Alonso’s previous goal for his current club had come in a routine 3-1 victory over the now-relegated Hannover 96 back in March 2015.
“My duty is to be risk averse,” the Spanish midfielder was quoted as saying by the Guardian’s Simon Hughes earlier this month. “For my game to be better, I need to be surrounded by better players than me.
“My game is not to have one great action. My game is to be consistent throughout: to bring the ball in the best and quickest possible way for the best players to make the last action.”
Bayern laboured to victory against Ingolstadt on Saturday, conceding their first goal of the season when Dario Lezcano squeezed the ball through Manuel Neuer’s legs early on.
Lezcano ends Neuer’s streak of 676 minutes without a goal. He also conceded his last goal in a competitive game vs Ingolstadt. End. #FCBFCI
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) September 17, 2016
Thomas Muller, Philipp Lahm and David Alaba being struck down by gastroenteritis in the run-up to the game did not help the Reds’ cause, but they rebounded quickly at their Allianz Arena with Robert Lewandowski restoring parity.
However, it was not until Alonso took matters into his own hands five minutes after the restart that Bayern scored their crucial second goal, with the 3-1 win subsequently secured by Brazilian full-back Rafinha in the 84th minute.
Alonso’s thumping effort from outside of the box left Ingolstadt goalkeeper Orjan Nyland with no chance. It was also his second tally in three games, and—incredibly—not even his best strike in recent weeks after his goal-of-the-season contender to kick off the scoring in the opening-day rout of Bremen.
Alonso has always been a cerebral player, dictating the game from deep. There were a few eyebrows raised when Pep Guardiola initially brought him to Bavaria from Real Madrid in the summer of 2014, though, with the player not far away from his 33rd …
