Facing a team who unbeaten in its past 11 games, Bayern picked apart Freiburg as Choupo-Moting led the attack, finishing with a goal and an assist for his endeavour.

The former Mainz, Schalke and Paris Saint-Germain player featured for 66 minutes until Jamal Musiala was given a run-out.

It had been the 33 year-old Choupo-Moting's first game in the starting XI for Bayern this season. By the time he left the field, the Cameroon international had convinced Nagelsmann there could be plenty more starts for him.

"Choupo did very well, he brought his success in practice into the pitch and certainly he deserved to play a little bit earlier maybe at some stage," Nagelsmann said.

"I'm very happy to have him. We know we can rely on Choupo. He got a great goal. He's a great player all around. We're happy that we have him."

Choupo-Moting is hoping the standout display leads to more involvement, too. This was the first time he had played more than 21 minutes in a 2022-2023 Bundesliga game.

"I try to step on the gas every day in training and the boys see that," Choupo-Moting said. "I know what I can do and that I can help the team.

"Julian knows that I see it that way and I told him so. It's nice that it worked out and of course I want to keep playing a lot and be successful with the team."

Bayern came into the game with just one win in its last six Bundesliga outings, four of which ended in draws.

Oliver Kahn, the club CEO, had demanded better results, and Bayern delivered on that request to move to second place in the Bundesliga, four points behind early shock leaders Union Berlin. They vaulted above Freiburg with the win.

Nagelsmann said: "I'm very happy with the result and the three points. There was definitely pressure before the game because Freiburg are successful and play good football and deserve to be near top of the table. The boys did a very good job and were very focused.

"In defence, we had one very dangerous situation in the first half where Freiburg didn't finish perfectly. I think we played nice football with great finishing. Big compliment to the team."

Bayern sits between Union and Freiburg, with 10 rounds of games gone, in a top three that few would have predicted at the start of the season.

"Freiburg deserve to be there because they're playing very well," Nagelsmann said in his post-game press conference. "Union is one of the top teams in the league and they'll probably continue that over the next couple of weeks."