Bayern Munich’s Dayot Upamecano comments on his battle with Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface

The game within the game. In Bayern Munich’s exciting 2-2 draw with Bayer Leverkusen on Friday — a clash of the Bundesliga’s top two teams — that proved to be the matchup between Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface and Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano.

Upamecano is Bayern’s fastest center-back and the man often tasked with handling the opposing side’s most physically imposing strikers — such as Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, back when he was at Borussia Dortmund.

In Boniface, he found a handful. But the French defender held his ground in the end, and while the pair featured in a number of fierce one-on-one duels, the 22-year-old Nigerian striker did not get his goal.

After the match, the two stars swapped jerseys in a show of mutual respect, and Upamecano commented on his opponent.

“A great striker. Fast, big, strong — it was a lot of fun playing against him,” Upamecano said in remarks captured via Sport1 reporter Kerry Hau.

Boniface is the latest in a line of terrific recruits for Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen side and already has four goals through his first four Bundesliga games since arriving from the Belgian Pro League A. It surely will not be the last of those goals — nor the latest of his thrilling battles against Bayern’s best.