The debut? Delayed. The position? Unfamiliar. Bad? No! After a difficult start, Tom Bischof collected his first Bundesliga minutes for FC Bayern in the 5-0 win against HSV.
It almost went unnoticed because Nicolas Jackson celebrated his debut in a Bayern jersey and talented Lennart Karl also got another chance to play. Saturday was also Tom Bischof’s first appearance for the record champions in the league, even though he has been part of the squad since the beginning of June but has somehow flown under the radar. Publicly, but also internally?
At the Club World Cup, Bischof, who joined on a free transfer from Hoffenheim, only played in the 1-0 defeat to Benfica Lisbon, when the team squandered the group victory. In the 2-1 Super Cup win at VfB Stuttgart, coach Vincent Kompany gave him two minutes of playing time in stoppage time, after which appendicitis sidelined the 20-year-old shortly before the start of the Bundesliga season. Operating room instead of Allianz Arena.
Now Bischof is ready to get involved. Shortly before arriving at FC Bayern, he made his debut for the senior national team in the Nations League against France. He has played 56 Bundesliga games for TSG, plus eight games in the Europa League. He has shed his status as a talented youngster, but does everyone at FC Bayern see it that way? Only time will tell.
Good stats against HSV
Against HSV, the trained midfielder had to help out in an unfamiliar position, at left back. Raphael Guerreiro, who had come on as a substitute before him, was injured, so Bischof took on the task, repeatedly moving from there into the center. The statistics for his 28 minutes on the pitch: 36 touches, a 100% pass completion rate with 30 passes, all of which were to teammates. He also had two shots on goal and won one tackle. Good statistics, but ultimately of little value, as the game had long been decided by that point. It will be exciting to see when and how Kompany uses Bischof in the busy schedule of games. After the clash with Chelsea in the Champions League, the team travels to Bischof’s former club Hoffenheim on Saturday. He came on at the start of the second half, first alongside Harry Kane, then replacing the Englishman. Although the Senegalese player made 15 sprints, he did not win any of his three tackles, his only dribble was unsuccessful, and his only chance was saved by HSV goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes.