Bayern Munich were back at it in DFB Pokal action on Wednesday, meaning another chance for former Vancouver Whitecaps Homegrown product Alphonso Davies to continue to make his mark.
Davies started and went the full 90 for Bayern in their first-round matchup with fifth-division outfit FC Düren that saw the German giants get a 3-0 victory as they began their title defense. The 19-year-old was his usual active self going forward, although he didn't find himself on the scoresheet in this contest.
It was good to see Davies in the starting XI, as he's been rotated regularly to start the season, with manager Hans Flick explaining that he's keen to ease the youngster back into action after taking on a heavy workload in his breakout 2019-20 campaign, which ran until the Champions League final on Aug. 23.
“He played a great many games and hardly got any breaks,” Flick said. “He has used the time now to simply clear his head again. We deliberately gave him the time to get some rest.”
Bayern made relatively easily work of Düren, getting a brace from Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and a 36th-minute penalty kick from star forward Thomas Muller.
The match also came on the same day that Davies found out he's on the shortlist for the Golden Boy Award, given to the best under-21 player in Europe during the last calendar year, joined by Canada teammate Jonathan David and US men's national team defender Sergino Dest.
