Alphonso Davies: Canada's Brightest Becoming the Hero Bayern Munich Need - 2019/20 Season Highlights

Most young players at European football's elite clubs only have one or two more senior players to fight alongside for a place in the starting lineup.

But Alphonso Davies had four: Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman, Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Perišić.

Davies only had 74 minutes of Bundesliga experience under his belt heading into the 2019/20 season. He was going to be Bayern Munich's impact substitute throughout the campaign and that's what he did in the first few weeks too, but that all changed after 2-2 draw against Augsburg on matchday eight.

It wasn't a game where Davies took a starring role. In fact, the youngster didn't even play against Bayern Munich's Bavarian neighbours, but Niklas Süle picked up a long-term injury which would shake up the club's plans for the entire season.

David Alaba was forced to cover Süle's injury through the middle and, as club-record signing Lucas Hernandez picked up his own injury against Olympiacos just a few days later, Davies was drafted in as a makeshift left back as a last resort for then manager Niko Kovač.

It's a position which Davies had only played once or twice before.

But since he started Bayern Munich's next match against Union Berlin on October 26, 2019, Davies has missed just 37 minutes of football across all competitions.

Only Manuel Neuer has featured more often than Davies, who at 19 has been on the pitch an impressive 98 per cent of the time - more than Thomas Müller, Serge Gnabry and even Robert Lewandowski - since that match against Union.

It was his first start for Bayern Munich too. But Davies would have to wait a little while longer before he would really start to have a headline-making impact at the Allianz Arena. That, however, was through no fault of his own.

Autumn was a difficult season for Bayern Munich. Borussia Mönchengladbach were at the top of the table and the Bavarians weren't even in the top three at times. Any excitement for Davies that was floating around was very, very subdued.

The only sound coming from the Allianz Arena at that time was a deafening pressure which was mounting on Kovač. And that pressure eventually told when the Croatian was kicked out after a 5-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt.

The shackles which Kovač had place Bayern Munich in were finally off.

As Bayern Munich started to dust themselves off and find their feet again, Davies' rise started to catch the eye. He'd already got off the mark as far as goals and assists are concerned, but the 19-year-old had never made such an impact on their team.

Just a few weeks after Kovač's departure, Davies started to become Bayern Munich second most important player.

In attack and defence, the Canadian grew into a colossus. Davies always offered a threat with his pace going forward - something which, at Bayern Munich specifically, defenders are able to do quite often - but it was his maturity at the back which impressed the most.

When Süle picked up his injury, the plan of attack for teams against Bayern Munich was simple: isolate Davies. But the versatile forward only needed a few games to disabuse players, managers and fans of that notion.

Even by the time the Bundesliga reached its halfway point and RB Leipzig were unofficially crowned as Germany's Herbstmeister - a title which is jokingly given to teams who are top of the table after matchday 17 - Davies was still one of the biggest talking points.

The hype was real, but it was nothing compared to what would follow.

2020 has been Davies' year. He's continued to be one of the most impressive players in the Bundesliga on a consistent basis, but it's how the Canadian has taken no time to adjust to the Champions League knockout stages which is making him a global star.

Davies had already shown up Premier League opposition in the group stages. Tottenham Hotspur didn't have an answer to his threat down the left flank when Bayern Munich hosted José Mourinho's side, but it was in their next game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge which took the 19-year-old to another level.

To this day, Mason Mount is still trying to find a way out of Davies' back pocket, but it was going forward where he made a last impression on the worldwide audience, picking up an outstanding assist for the third and final goal of the game.

Playing out of position, Davies was already a hot topic in the Bundesliga, but it was in west London where he universally cemented his place as one of European football's most exciting players, if not one of its best.