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Is Jamal Musiala 2.0 set to emerge at Bayern Munich? Vincent Kompany has only one remaining question

As bitter as Serge Gnabry’s absence is for Bayern Munich in the final stretch of the season, Jamal Musiala is at least hitting top form just in time. Kompany, however, issued a warning and raised one final big question.

Oliver Kahn’s controversial comments may have provided the perfect motivational boost for Jamal Musiala. The youngster had recently returned from a long layoff caused by a broken fibula and a serious ankle dislocation, only to suffer a setback that ruled him out of the March internationals.

“He should sit out the World Cup,” the former Bayern Munich chairman stated on Sky eleven days ago. “If I sense that something is off in my game, I must work on myself to regain full fitness.” His remarks triggered a public outcry, widespread solidarity for Musiala and, ultimately, an impressive on-field response from the 23-year-old attacker.

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FC Bayern’s Jamal Musiala has delivered three impressive performances in succession.
In Bayern Munich’s subsequent 5-0 win over FC St. Pauli, Musiala returned to the starting line-up after more than a month out. His trademark fleet-footed style was on display as he netted the historic 101st goal of the Bundesliga season and provided an assist.
In the spectacular 4-3 victory in the Champions League quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid, Musiala first drew an early yellow card from Eduardo Camavinga—who was later sent off—with a mazy dribble, then teed up Luis Díaz’s decisive equaliser with a spectacular backheel He delivered that assist after replacing Serge Gnabry, who had occupied Musiala’s preferred central attacking midfield slot during his absence.
Three days later, Gnabry suffered a right thigh adductor strain in training. The 30-year-old will miss Bayern’s title run-in and is also doubtful for the World Cup, where he and Musiala compete for the same spot.
As expected, Musiala slotted into the starting line-up in place of Gnabry for the title-winning gala against VfB Stuttgart. Time and again he went on dribbling runs, tearing holes in the Stuttgart defence; one such run ultimately led to Raphael Guerreiro’s equaliser. That made it four goals or assists in three games for the young playmaker. At half-time, manager Vincent Kompany replaced him as a precaution. “That was the plan,” Musiala confirmed.
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FC Bayern: Raphael Guerreiro and Lennart Karl also offer cause for optimism
For FC Bayern, Musiala’s return to form could not have arrived at a better time, given Gnabry’s absence. “It’s actually a coincidence that Serge’s injury has happened now and Jamal isn’t that far off,” Kompany said even before the Stuttgart match. He then added, almost incredulously: “We’ve played a large part of this season successfully without Jamal. But just as Serge is no longer available, we have a fit Jamal back.”
Since his long injury lay-off, he has “developed physically”, the manager reported at Tuesday’s press conference. “Physically, he’s very close to his best. Running, pressing, winning tackles – he can do all that now. There’s just one question left: when will that ‘Magic Musiala’ return? That Jamal at his absolute best. When that total freedom comes back at some point – and it will – then you’ll have a more developed version of Jamal Musiala. And as a coach, I’m looking forward to that.”
At the same time, however, Kompany quickly浇灭了赛后对Musiala的过高期待：“我不能把所有压力都给Jamal，这样对他不公平。”毕竟， Gnabry本赛季已贡献21次进球或助攻，仅次于Harry Kane、Luis Diaz和Michael Olise，尤其在强强对话中表现突出。
Yet Kompany was not solely impressed by Musiala against Stuttgart: Raphael Guerreiro also boosted his claims for a starting berth in attack with a goal, underlining his candidacy for the DFB-Pokal semi-final against Bayer Leverkusen and the Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain. Lennart Karl has returned to training after a muscle tear and could soon be available for selection.