This recent outing in Leipzig was typical of Manuel Neuer.

The FC Bayern goalkeeper just tries to anticipate situations in the game.

This often works very well, and he gets top marks and hymns of praise for his spectacular actions.

But sometimes it goes wrong.

In the Supercup against the cup winners last weekend, it almost happened when he tried to stop a long ball with his chest well before the penalty area, it jumped too far from his body and landed on Christopher Nkunku from Leipzig.

But he couldn't take the chance.

"Always shown he's there"

Neuer accepts such a lapse.

Showing presence, even outside the penalty area, is part of his interpretation of goalkeeping.

Despite or maybe because of his willingness to take risks, he's the best, there's no doubt about that.

Definitely the best German goalkeeper, and his competitors recognize that.

"Manu just has something special," said Bernd Leno, who has just switched from Arsenal to Fulham.

“His great successes prove him right.

He's always shown in the big games that he's there."

There are no indications that this ranking will change in the foreseeable future.

And that's why Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann is happy that the gastrointestinal virus that had plagued the goalkeeper this week is almost cured and will be used at the start of the season this Friday (8:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga, at Sat.1 and DAZN) nothing should stand in the way of Eintracht Frankfurt.

"He's better now.

If things continue like this, he will be able to play normally.”

Even at the age of 36, there is still no drop in performance at Neuer.

"Manuel is one of the defining figures in the history of FC Bayern," said Oliver Kahn, CEO of FC Bayern München AG and Neuer's predecessor as a defining figure, when the captain's contract was extended in May.

At the end of last season, the negotiations had dragged on a bit.

Neuer wanted to know whether FC Bayern will continue to be a team in the years to come that will not only win championships and cups in a row, but will also be able to “attack at the top” in the Champions League.

In addition, it was probably about the contract period.

In the end, both sides agreed to extend the contract, which runs until 2023, by another year, as is usual at Bayern for players over the age of 30.

There was not even an exception for Neuer.

It doesn't have to end in 2024.

"When I know that I'm fit, everything is fine and my performance is good, then you sit down together," said Neuer.

Ambitious after injury

A few years ago, Bayern were no longer sure about Neuer.

He had just recovered from a serious metatarsal injury and had been out for almost a whole season.

After that he was good, sometimes very good, but not quite so indomitable.

At that time, Munich decided to bring Alexander Nübel from Schalke 04.

A goalkeeping talent at the time, but when his signing was announced for the following season, in January 2020, Neuer was on the way back to form.

Six months later, Nübel had no chance, also because the Bayern coach at the time, Hansi Flick, was behind Neuer.

Nübel is now on loan at AS Monaco – and it is unlikely that he will ever play for Bayern.

The difficult time with the injury may have stimulated Neuer again, awakened his ambition.

There had been some public doubts as to whether he was still right in goal, not with Bayern but with the national team.

Mainly because the then national coach Joachim Löw had given him a regular place guarantee for the 2018 World Cup despite a very short recovery – even though representative Marc-André ter Stegen was in top form at the time.

Löw saw it as a wrong signal that old merits count more than current achievements.

The fact that Germany had historically done poorly in Russia and had already failed in the preliminary round was not due to Neuer.

Three months before the World Cup in Qatar, Neuer is again the undisputed number one.

He now has 113 caps, more than any other German goalkeeper.