Compared with the show Luis Diaz had put on earlier that rainy autumn evening at the Allianz Arena, the aftermath was low-key. Diaz was one of the last players to leave the dressing-room area after Bayern Munich's 6-1 win over RB Leipzig on the sixth Bundesliga matchday. With his hood pulled low over his face, he looked as if he'd borrowed an expression from Mr Nonchalant Michael Olise. He did at least carry the match ball signed by his team-mates, as a hat-trick scorer should. Just before leaving the stadium, he gave a quick thumbs-up.
His exuberant celebrations for his three goals and his team-mates' strikes had already shown how much that burst of form relieved him.
This wasn't Diaz's first Bayern hat-trick: he had scored three in a 5-1 win over TSG Hoffenheim in February. Nor was it his first goal since he fell into a goalscoring slump in August. He had scored in Tuesday's 3-3 Champions League draw away to Viking Stavanger.
This time Bayern Munich did not have to chase an early deficit
After his first goal against Leipzig, it seemed something had clicked. Perhaps it was the exuberance of his celebration, or the fact that Bayern took the lead in the twelfth minute rather than having to chase an early deficit. Diaz could have scored in the first minute, but after Harry Kane and Michael Olise launched a quick attack, he took too long and lost his good shooting position.
Only then did he resemble the forlorn striker of recent weeks, when he had overcomplicated things from promising positions or found the net only for his goals to be ruled out for offside, rightly or wrongly. He had managed one goal from an xG of 3.1 in his first four Bundesliga games. Last week in Augsburg, officials had ruled out three of his goals for offside.
Diaz made it 1-0, set up Aleksandar Pavlovic's goal for 2-0, scored the goals that made it 4-0 and 6-0, and initiated the move for the fifth. His three goals came from an xG of just 0.61.
His hat-trick ended the goalscoring slump. Bayern's win also halted an emerging results crisis after two consecutive draws.
Why RB Leipzig were the ideal opponents for Bayern to regain form against
Leipzig, though "still an absolute top German side" according to sporting director Max Eberl, had been conceding plenty of goals. Their latest Bundesliga results read 1-5, 0-6, 3-3 and 1-5. Now they had lost 1-6.
Germany's likely No 3 would have overtaken Bayern in the table with a win. Instead, they proved the perfect opponents for the slightly faltering record champions and their hitherto luckless forward to regain form against.
What does Max Eber say about Luis Diaz?
How had the Colombian suddenly found his scoring touch? Max Eberl offered an obvious, plausible theory that won't please the pub regulars, Chancellor Friedrich Merz or anyone else who believes we all, footballers in particular, work too little and have too much free time. "The break did Lucho good; the two weeks' rest helped," he said in the mixed zone and later at the press conference, where he stood in for the injured coach Vincent Kompany.
Bayern and the Colombian federation had granted Diaz, who plays so many matches, two weeks' special leave after the last home Bundesliga match before the international break. "Lucho played an enormous amount last season, and then there was the World Cup as well. Expectations were huge afterwards, but not everything had fallen into place yet. The rest helped; he is fresher, he is ready," Eberl said.
It wasn't the first time Kompany and Bayern had granted Diaz special leave, and he isn't the only player to have received it. Back in December, Kompany sent the forward on holiday for a few days while he was suspended following a red card in the Champions League. Full-back Alphonso Davies was also allowed to take the honeymoon he had missed during the most recent international break.
The pub regulars may have to brace themselves: holidays help, even in the middle of the season.