This guest post was written by Zach Lowy, Chief Editor and Social Media Manager of BreakingTheLines.com. Zach is a successful journalist and can be followed at @ZachLowy on X and @zachlowy.bsky.social on Bluesky. Zach’s work can also be found on FotMob, BetUS and others.
All good things come to an end, and for Bayern Munich, that end came on Saturday.
After opening the 2025/26 season with 16 consecutive victories, Bayern finally failed to win a match. They fell behind within a half-hour to Union Berlin’s Danilo Doekhi, only to equalize shortly after via Luis Diaz. Union would reclaim the lead in the 83rd minute as Doekhi scored a second set-piece goal, but Bayern would escape the German capital with a point thanks to Harry Kane’s extra-time equalizer.
There are quite a few players who have been blamed for the stalemate. Manuel Neuer got caught out for both of Union’s goals, proving that, at nearly 40 years old, Father Time is catching up with him. Leon Goretzka failed to win a single one of the three ground duels he attempted, whilst Josip Stanisic took two unsuccessful touches and lost possession 10 times. However, one player who undoubtedly left plenty to be desired was Michael Olise.
Born and raised in London to a Nigerian father and a French-Algerian mother, Olise bounced around from Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester City’s academies before joining Reading, where he established himself at the senior level as one of the finest players in the English second division. These stellar displays would attract the attention of Crystal Palace, who signed him for £8.37 million in 2021. It didn’t take long for Olise to make the jump to the Premier League, becoming Palace’s youngest Premier League scorer since Clinton Morrison in 1998 and prompting various pundits like Derek Rae and Leonardo Bertozzi to declare him amongst the game’s top young wingers, before emerging as the youngest player to assist three goals from open play in a single Premier League match and the first Palace player to provide 10 assists in a single Premier League season in 2023, and following that up with a stellar 2023/24 performance that saw him nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year.
Despite attracting attention from Premier League sides like Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Newcastle United, Olise decided to leave England for the first time in his life and start a new adventure in Germany, penning a five-year deal with Bayern Munich for a reported transfer fee of €60m, including add-ons. He would need just two minutes to grab his first assist in a 4-0 win vs. SSV Ulm in the cup, before opening his goal-scoring account for Bayern a month later in a 6-1 win at Holstein Kiel in the league.
Having joined a team that was lacking in confidence after relinquishing their dynasty to Bayer Leverkusen, Olise wasted no time whatsoever in getting Bayern Munich back to where they belong, wreaking havoc down the right side of attack, establishing a dangerous synergy with Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala in attack. And after racking up 12 goals and a league-high 15 assists, Olise was named in the 2024–25 Bundesliga Team of the Season and took home the league’s Rookie of the Season award. He then headed across the Atlantic to take part in the FIFA Club World Cup, bagging a brace of goals and assists vs. Auckland City before stamping Bayern’s ticket to the knockout round after scoring the winner vs. Boca Juniors.
Olise scored 20 goals and 23 assists in 50 appearances (a total of 3,842 minutes per Transfermarkt) for Bayern in 2024/25, whilst he also made his senior debut for France in a 3-1 defeat to Italy on September 6, 2024 – he’s since been called up for seven consecutive France squads, playing in 14 out of 16 matches for Les Bleus. Whether it’s carving out a golden scoring opportunity with a magnificent through ball, or swerving a shot past the goalkeeper, or slicing and dicing the opposing defense with his smooth dexterity and ball manipulation, Olise has emerged as an essential figure in Bayern’s attack. Alongside Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze, D.C. United’s Christian Benteke, and Atletico Madrid’s Alexander Sorloth, he is yet another ex-Crystal Palace attacker who is establishing himself on the world stage, and at just 23 years of age, he’s only going to get better. He leads all Bayern players for Expected Assists (3.38) and shots per game (3.6) in the Bundesliga and shares the top spot for successful dribbles per game (1.7) alongside Luis Diaz.
But whilst Diaz has enjoyed a stellar start to life in Germany since making the move from Liverpool in the summer, it’s only in recent weeks that he’s managed to convert himself as a regular source of goals down the left flank with 7 goals and 2 assists since the start of October. As for his attacking partner down the right flank, it’s fair to say that Olise has taken a step in the opposite direction. After struggling to impose himself in the Supercup vs. Stuttgart, Olise bagged four goals in his first three matches of the 2025/26 season before grabbing assists vs. HSV, Hoffenheim and Werder Bremen, followed by a brace of assists and a goal in the UEFA Champions League vs. Pafos.
He ended a three-match goal contribution drought for club and country after scoring the decisive winner in a 2-1 Der Klassiker victory vs. Borussia Dortmund, before blanking vs. Club Brugge, followed by an assist vs. Gladbach and a goal vs. Cologne. Olise started November by coming off the bench for the final half-hour of their 3-0 win vs. Bayer Leverkusen, just his second substitute appearance of the campaign, before playing 81 minutes in their narrow win vs. PSG, which saw Diaz score a brace before getting sent off following a vicious scissors tackle on Achraf Hakimi. He played the full 90 in their stalemate to Union Berlin, but he was never quite able to stamp his name on proceedings, making it three games in a row without a goal contribution.
Most of the time, whenever Olise isn’t grabbing goal contributions for Bayern, he’s compensating with other actions be that winning back possession in dangerous areas or whipping in dangerous crosses into the box or attracting opponents and unleashing a teammate on the counter with a sensational through ball or leading the high press. But against Union Berlin, he failed to do any of that with zero out of four crosses completed, seven unsuccessful touches, and just 0.4 xG from three chances, as well as one big chance missed. Moreover, he lost possession a whopping 27 times.
All things considered, it gave the impression of a player who is running on fumes. With Jamal Musiala missing the start of the season and Thomas Muller, Kingsley Coman and Leroy Sane departing the Allianz Arena, the onus has been Olise to step up and deliver as Bayern’s creative talisman. And whilst Olise has steered clear of any injuries since returning from a long-term hamstring issue in April 2024, it’s evident that this constant fixture build-up and travel has taken a toll on his ability to impact the game. Olise will now fly to France to compete in their final home World Cup qualifier vs. Ukraine before closing out their qualifying journey with a trip to Azerbaijan. France sit three points above Ukraine, six above Iceland, and nine above Azerbaijan, and they can confirm their spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a win vs. Ukraine.
The only good news for Bayern came from their rivals, with Leipzig losing at Hoffenheim and Dortmund drawing at HSV. Bayern sit atop the Bundesliga table with 28 points, six points above Leipzig and seven above BVB, and when they return to action on November 22 vs. midtable Freiburg, it might just behoove all parties for Vincent Kompany to give Olise a breather following his return from international duty. With the Bavarians set to face off against Arsenal on November 26 – one of the last three perfect teams in the Champions League with Bayern and Inter – it is of the absolute vital importance that Kompany has a fit and fresh Olise in order to fill Diaz’s creative void and guide Bayern to yet another famous victory vs. the Gunners.
This guest post was written by Zach Lowy, Chief Editor and Social Media Manager of BreakingTheLines.com. Zach is a successful journalist and can be followed at @ZachLowy on X and @zachlowy.bsky.social on Bluesky. Zach’s work can also be found on FotMob, BetUS and others.
