Luis Diaz wastes no time at Bayern Munich and has special message
77 minutes into the match, the Colombian found himself unmarked in the box and connected with a Serge Gnabry cross to make the score 2-0. The goal was crucial: Bayern conceded late and nervily hung on to a 2-1 victory.
Diaz immediately jogged to the corner flag, sat down, and honored his former teammate Diogo Jota with his signature video game celebration before being cheered by his Bayern teammates. In early July, Jota tragically passed away in a car accident along with his brother, Andre.
READ MORE: Rio Ferdinand immediately changes Premier League table prediction after Liverpool verdict
READ MORE: Liverpool 4-2 Bournemouth RECAP after Reds gets season off to winning start
Diaz and Jota were teammates in Merseyside from 2022 to 2025 following the Colombian international's arrival from Porto, Jota's old club.
Diaz transferred to Bayern this summer for €75 million (£65m/$87m), a sizeable margin for a 28-year-old winger. He's the second recent high-profile player to move from Liverpool to Munich in recent years, joining Sadio Mane (2022).
Diaz figures to line up exclusively on the left wing for coach Vincent Kompany's side, flanking English forward Harry Kane. The 28-year-old primarily lined up on the left for Liverpool last year but moonlit as a center-forward last fall with Jota out injured and striker Darwin Nunez struggling for form.
He played all 90 minutes for Bayern on Saturday, completing 38 of 42 passes and one of his four dribbles. The one he pulled off was stunning: Diaz caused Stuttgart winger Jamie Leweling to faceplant with a smooth acceleration in the first half.
Ahead of Diaz's positive debut, former Bayern Munich and Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann told German site Heute that he's skeptical of the transfer.
Diaz is a very good footballer, but what Bayern are doing isn't a business model. Bringing in a 28-year-old for that amount of money and then paying him even more than he earned in England? Liverpool are laughing," Hamann said.
READ MORE: Jamie Carragher left with egg on his face after questioning 'strange' Arne Slot decision
READ MORE: Diogo Jota's parents brought to tears by Wolves tribute as wife Rute attends Man City game
"And, coach Kompany isn't letting the youngsters play. And I've heard there's talent there like there hasn't been in 10 years. Yet the German championship is still only possible through Bayern," he continued.
"Who else? Leverkusen will have a tough time, and it won't be Leipzig either; Dortmund is the most likely option. The benchmark for Bayern will be the Champions League."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
a minute ago
- New York Times
France wins Germany Sail Grand Pix just days after driver is released from hospital
From the hospital and a crash that threatened their participation to spraying champagne on the podium. Somehow, Quentin Delapierre steered the French team to the unlikeliest of victories at the Germany Sail Grand Prix in Sassnitz on Sunday. On Friday, during a wild and windy practice session, Delapierre suffered a face-plant into the cockpit of the French F50 catamaran after their carbon-fiber rudder exploded off the back of the boat and high into the air. After being released from hospital with a clean bill of health, Delapierre set sail on a tricky course that threw all kinds of curve balls at the fleet over the weekend. Advertisement Where Saturday had been a test of nerve in strong, gusty winds that saw the F50s break new records for high-speed sailing, Sunday was a much more subtle game in lighter, patchy breeze. Even on their largest 24m wingsails, the teams were struggling to thread their way around a treacherous race course that made it very difficult to achieve 100 percent flying time above the water. Like the French, the British could have been forgiven for suffering from some kind of trauma after the violent collision with the U.S. team which took them out of action on the final day of Saturday's session. The SailGP repair team pulled an all-nighter to get the British boat back into race-ready form. Feeling guilty for their error in causing the collision, Taylor Canfield's crew donated a chunk of the U.S. boat as a like-for-like replacement that could be grafted into the broken British boat, effectively enabling Dylan Fletcher and his crew to go racing on Sunday. Fletcher made the most of it and executed brilliantly throughout the day. The other teams will be looking back at the footage of Sunday's three fleet races and asking themselves why they didn't attempt the same simple approach to the all-vital start. Time and again the British were nearly always last into the start box, turning late into the bottom end of the starting error and making a late, but well-timed, charge towards the leeward end of the line. It didn't work perfectly every time but Fletcher's red boat was always fighting for the front places. In the opening race, the French seized the early lead but a misjudgement at the bottom of the course saw them fall off the foils while the British swept into the lead. In the next race, the Australians stole Britain's early lead halfway through but Fletcher's team executed a brilliant jibe around the inside of Tom Slingsby's team to regain the lead and hold off the Aussies by just three seconds at the finish. Advertisement In the final fleet race, Sebastien Schneiter, who got married just a weekend earlier, steered Switzerland to victory, although nowhere close to a place in the final. Behind the Swiss, the British secured their spot in the final with a second place, followed by the ever-consistent Australians in third, easily good enough to put Slingsby through to the final in pole position. Further back, the battle for the minor places would be critical to see who would grab that third spot in the final, and France's fourth place was sufficient to push Delapierre ahead of the Germans. Having led overnight, the usually consistent Kiwis just couldn't hit their stride — Pete Burling never managing to get the Black Foils out in the front row of the start. In the final, Britain yet again dominated the start, using their leeward-end approach to block out the Australians and outgun the French, who started at the top end of the line. The British led comfortably at the bottom gate and looked to have their rivals well under control, yet France found an extra waft of wind to ghost their way out from beneath the leaders and out into the front. The Australians also found their way around the British who, after such an imposing performance throughout the afternoon, were left with little to show for it. As the TV commentators observed, it had been a game of Snakes & Ladders all afternoon, and Fletcher probably had a right to feel hard done by for sliding down the leaderboard at just the wrong moment. 'Having dominated the day it just didn't go our way in that last race,' Fletcher, speaking live onboard, said soon after racing. 'It's pretty painful, I'm not going to lie.' The disconsolate British floated across the finish in third behind the Australians, with the jubilant French claiming their first event victory of the season. 'Playing with the [wind] shifts and the pressure, that was a good fun game and will be a good memory,' smiled the ever unflappable French driver Delapierre. Advertisement Sunday's result sees Australia reclaim top of the season leaderboard, albeit tied on 61 points with the New Zealanders who are relegated to second overall. Britain moves to third overall on 58 points, with Spain just two points further behind. The French looked good for an event win for much of the season and this mature performance in Germany sets Delapierre's crew up perfectly for a strong showing at the next event in front of their home crowd in St Tropez next month. Sunday's racing was thrilling for its unpredictability and the strong test of tactical nous and boat handling skill. But after Saturday's collision between the U.S and Britain, and Friday's catastrophic technical failures on the French and the Brazilian boats, there are some serious questions about technical reliability and human safety yet to be addressed. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Times
a minute ago
- New York Times
Alabama's Jam Miller expected to miss season opener vs. FSU with upper-body injury
Alabama starting tailback Jam Miller is out indefinitely after suffering an upper-body injury in Saturday's scrimmage. Miller's exact injury was not specified by Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, who said in a statement Sunday that Miller had a 'procedure' the night before. 'Jam should recover fully with a timetable for his return yet to be determined,' DeBoer said. Advertisement Miller, a senior, was preseason third-team All-SEC after being Alabama's second-leading rusher last season with 668 yards and seven touchdowns. Then-quarterback Jalen Milroe was Alabama's leading rusher. At minimum, Miller appears out for No. 8 Alabama's season opener at unranked Florida State. But he could be facing an extended absence, putting his availability in peril for the Sept. 13 home game against unranked Wisconsin and the Sept. 27 trip to No. 5 Georgia. Miller could be a big loss for the Crimson Tide for however long he's out. He split time last season with Justice Haynes, who then transferred to Michigan, so Miller was expected to have a much bigger role. (He also had 16 catches for 155 yards last year.) Otherwise, Alabama doesn't have a lot of SEC experience in the backfield. But there is potential in redshirt sophomore Richard Young, a 2023 top-100 prospect, who suffered a leg injury in Week 3 last year that caused him to miss the next four games. When he returned, Young didn't have a big role, finishing with 146 yards. Sophomore Daniel Hill (61 rushing yards) generated some optimism this spring, and Dre Washington, a transfer from Louisiana, rushed for 1,343 yards over the past three seasons in the Sun Belt. Alabama looks to bounce back from going 9-4 last season under first-year coach DeBoer. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Report – Inter Milan & Poland Star To Complete Atalanta Medical Tomorrow In Whirlwind Move
Inter Milan wingback Nicola Zalewski is reportedly set to undergo his medicals with Atalanta in a real whirlwind transfer. This according to Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia, via FCInterNews. In the last day or so, Atalanta have taken an interest in Inter wingback Nicola Zalewski. The Bergamo club are keen to make a signing for the left flank before the end of the transfer window. And Zalewski has emerged as a potential candidate for the position after Fiorentina rebuffed La Dea's interest in bringing Robin Gosens back to the club. Inter Wingback Nicola Zalewski To Undergo Atalanta Medicals Tomorrow BARI, ITALY – AUGUST 16: Nicola Zalewski of Inter during Pre-Season Friendly match between FC Internazionale and Olympiacos FC at Stadio San Nicola on August 16, 2025 in Bari, Italy. (Photo by) According to Sky Sport Italia, the negotiations between Inter and Atalanta for Zalewski are complete. The clubs have been in active talks today. And they have already reached an agreement for the Polish international. Inter only just signed Zalewski permanently this summer after he'd been on loan over the second half of last season. They paid Roma a fee of €6.5 million. However, Inter are already to turn a significant profit, reports Sky. They anticipate that the figure that the clubs have agreed a deal worth around €17 million. The Pole will sign a four-year deal with Atalanta. However, La Dea will also have the option to extend his deal by two years.
