Liverpool 0-0 Bayern Munich - 5 Talking Points, UEFA Champions League 2018-19

#2 Bayern's rearguard was superb

Bayern were successful in suffocating Liverpool in the second half

There has been plenty of criticism leveled at Mats Hummels for what, by his standards, have been below-par performances this season. That, on the back of a below-average World Cup, and the German has had the guillotine on his neck for pretty much the entirety of this campaign.

But, what's that cliche? Form is temporary, class is permanent.

Mats Hummels is class, and tonight, that came to the fore. He was strong aerially when Liverpool had their set-pieces, but what stood out from that performance was his reading of the game.

With Liverpool playing one-twos on the edge of the area, and Wijnaldum or Keita always adding an extra body by making advanced runs from midfield, it was important for one of the Bayern centre-halves to take charge, and Hummels did.

Of course, he did. He was the senior man in the partnership, and the onus was on him. What was particularly impressive was the way he just stood on his feet, and never felt the need to dive into a tackle, which could've been dangerous given the quick feet of Liverpool's front three.

Hummels also ably pulled Niklas Sule along with him. The youngster was having a difficult time in dealing with Liverpool's movement, but grew into the game in the second half.

And then, there was Joshua Kimmich. Very early, he'd picked up a booking that ruled him out of the second leg, but he wasn't going to let that deter him. There was a job to be done at Anfield, before thinking about proceedings in Munich.

The way Kimmich defended the Mane-Robertson combination left a lot of lessons for other right-backs who will come up against the duo in the remainder of the season.

The young German ensured he was never too tight to either Mane or Robertson, and that allowed him to cover the marauding Robertson's overlapping runs, without having to sacrifice his attention on Mane.

Bayern will miss him hugely in the second leg, and Mane will only be hoping that in Munich, Rafinha will not be able to repeat Kimmich's tricks from tonight with the same regularity.