0 to 8 goals on the bench
©IMAGO
This weekend saw an unusually high number of Bundesliga coaches display a golden touch, as nine goals were scored by wildcards. Nick Woltemade started the match on Friday and helped VfB Stuttgart win 3-2 after a 2-0 defeat against Union Berlin. Bayern’s Jamal Musiala and Wolfsburg’s Jonas Wind also led their teams to victory with two goals after coming on. Bayern coach Vincent Kompany’s wild cards have already appeared on the scoreboard eight times this season. Bundesliga.
No team has scored more wildcard goals than FC Bayern, with only VfB Stuttgart also scoring eight. Besides Musiala, Michael Olise, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, Leroy Sané, Kingsley Coman and Thomas Müller also scored after coming on. Especially on the offensive, the record champions have a double complement at each position and can therefore always add more. Stuttgart striker Woltemade shone from the bench, scoring three times in 129 minutes as a substitute and thus leading the internal league table.
Third place is shared by VfL Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen with five substitute goals each, followed by Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund with four substitute goals each. Dortmund’s Jamie Gittens is the top scorer from the bench: Nuri Şahin replaced the 20-year-old four times, he scored twice himself and twice shone as a passer.
The only club that has yet to receive a goal boost from the bench is SC Freiburg. Lucas Höler and Michael Gregoritsch have long shared the role of joker in Julian Schuster’s offense. Under the leadership of Christian Streich, the Breisgauers scored eight goals from the bench last season, two of which came from Gregoritsch.
Former Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel’s side had also shown great individual quality the previous season, but Kompany could catch up with him shortly. Munich’s substitutes have scored nine goals under Tuchel in 2023/24, with Mathys Tel a particular standout, scoring four times. At the time, Xabi Alonso and Marco Rose had the better hand at substitutions, with their Jokers scoring 14 times from the bench.
