Luis Diaz faces Bayern Munich dilemma as Ismail Saibari makes his case

Luis Diaz was the only notable absentee from Bayern Munich’s celebrations after their 7-0 victory over Union Berlin, with the Colombia forward still waiting to rediscover his goalscoring form.

While almost every other member of Bayern Munich’s attacking line made an impact, Diaz failed to score again and found himself on the fringes of the celebrations inside the dressing room.

Harry Kane, the last player to leave the room, said the manager had asked the squad to say a few words to mark the emphatic win. Michael Olise scored his first hat-trick for the club, Ismail Saibari found the net for the first time in a Bayern shirt, Kane celebrated scoring his 100th goal and Serge Gnabry returned after recovering from injury.

Diaz, however, remained the notable exception.

Diaz searching for a response

The forward’s most recent Bayern goal came in the opening round of the Bundesliga against Stuttgart, when he scored his fifth goal of the match. He has not scored in any of the following games.

His difficulties have extended beyond his failure to find the net. Diaz missed several clear opportunities against Schalke, Osnabruck and Bodø/Glimt, while he attracted criticism against Elversberg after failing to make the most of a superb pass from Olise inside the penalty area.

He did score against Union Berlin, but the effort was ruled out for offside after an excellent Bayern move, meaning his wait for a valid goal continued.

Diaz has previously insisted he is confident of ending the drought, saying he needs to remain mentally calm and work on taking his chances. He added that the final touch was the main element missing from his game.

The statistics underline the problem. Diaz has missed six big chances in the Bundesliga, while his expected-goals figure stood at 3.1 during the first four rounds.

Kane, by comparison, has scored three goals from an expected-goals figure of 2.17, while Olise has four goals from 2.65 expected goals.

Saibari, who replaced Diaz against Union Berlin, has scored once and provided three assists in only 178 minutes of Bundesliga football.

Bayern turn to a familiar solution

Bayern appear to have given Diaz a chance to reset during the international break after Colombia manager Nestor Lorenzo opted not to select him following discussions with the player.

Bayern sporting director Max Eberl welcomed the decision, saying Diaz had played a large number of matches recently and would benefit from a short period of rest.

Eberl said the player would take a brief holiday before returning to training and following his physical programme, while stressing there were no concerns about his fitness.

Diaz had previously spoken about wanting another player to compete with him for a place on the wing, allowing him time to rest when performances were not going well. Bayern, though, loaned Arijon Ibrahimovic to Augsburg before the transfer window closed, leaving the left-wing position without an obvious specialist alternative.

Vincent Kompany still has several options, including Gnabry and the possibility of using Saibari in some attacking roles.

Diaz received a similar rest period in December 2025, when Kompany left him out for several days. He returned to produce strong performances in the second half of the season.