Mickaël Cuisance Gives Bayern Munich Fans a Taste of What’s to Come

Bayern Munich rounded off another triumphant Bundesliga campaign on Saturday with a thumping 4-0 win at Wolfsburg.

In typical Bayern end-of-season fashion, the rout saw a number of records broken, with Robert Lewandowski notching his 34th-league goal of the season – a record high for a for a non-German player – and Thomas Müller registering his 21st assist of the season, breaking the record set by Kevin De Bruyne back in 2015.

While the record-breakers will undoubtedly make the headlines, midfield-man Mickaël Cuisance produced the outstanding performance of the day, offering Bayern fans a glimpse of what could be set to come from the youngster.

Cuisance has endured a tough opening season in the Bayern first-team setup, spending most of the campaign as an unused substitute and being afforded little game time in the few cameos he has made.

With the title already in the bag and one eye on the DFB-Pokal final against Bayer Leverkusen, Hans-Dieter Flick gave Cuisance just his second start of the season; and he didn’t disappoint.

The 20-year-old took time to find his feet a little, with some nervy passes early on, but once he’d settled into the game he proved he’s a class act who has a big part to play at Bayern.

With Joshua Kimmich looking on from the bench Cuisance proved he’s capable of stepping into the German metronome’s shoes when called upon, producing a display full of maturity, energy and guile.

In a Bayern display littered with uncharacteristic missed chances, the France Under-20 international provided the standout piece of quality in the game. Collecting the ball 20 yards out, he took a touch before steadying himself and curling an unbelievable effort into the top corner, leaving Wolfsburg goalkeeper Koen Casteels clutching at thin air as the ball sailed past him.

Despite trying to keep his cool, there was clear delight and relief on the face of the youngster, as he finally introduced himself as a Bayern player after spending months on the fringes of first team action.

Cuisance’s quick feet and balance ultimately led to the end of the game as a contest. After skipping past one defender, the youngster then dropped a shoulder before putting Wolfsburg captain Josuha Guilavogui on the floor, only for the defender to bring him down and deny him the chance to double his Bayern account.

The foul saw Guilavogui handed his second yellow card of the game, while Lewandowski coolly slotted home the resulting spot-kick to ensure it would be Bayern who headed home with the three points.

The performance was made even more impressive by the circumstances in which he produced it. Despite still being able to field some stellar names, Bayern rested a number of first-team players, while both Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry had unusually quiet games.

Bayern were in need of a spark to end their Bundesliga campaign on a high and Cuisance was the man to provide it. A goal and an assist in his best performance for Bayern yet, and perhaps a nod to the player Die Roten can expect to see next season.