A game at the San Siro is always a special experience for footballers: the steep stands, the sound of the singing, the history of this stadium. However, two FC Bayern players must have perceived the 2-0 win in Milan differently – quite differently, even though they played alongside each other in defence: Lucas Hernández had chosen Inter’s Tifosi as the target of their whistles. The most likely explanation: his brother Theo is under contract with rivals AC Milan and family is particularly important in Italy. Matthijs de Ligt, on the other hand, is the man from Munich for whom trips to Milan are the most common: he has spent the past three years at Juventus Turin.
You could definitely read both the provocations and the experience from their footballing performances. Hernández seemed almost a little bummed on Wednesday. This was shown not only by his courageous duel, but also by a mistake just before the end. He gave the ball away in his own setup, which didn’t change a good performance. De Ligt was no less courageous in the duels, but everything seemed a bit calmer with him.
Who knows, maybe one day that 2-0 win in Milan will be in your mind when you remember the first games played by a new FC Bayern defensive duo, a duo made up of the passionate fighter Hernández and the cool-headed Chef de Ligt. But of course they would have to keep going like this. And they would have to become the regular duo at all.
Manuel Neuer praises Bayern’s defense
De Ligt was Bavaria’s most expensive and most important purchase during the summer break. Since David Alaba’s move to Real Madrid in 2021, the defense has lacked a communicative organizer. Neither Hernández nor Dayot Upamecano fulfilled this role, de Ligt is expressly said to do so. “He speaks and conducts a lot and was our absolute dream player,” said sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic.
At the beginning of the season, de Ligt was initially on the bench, the 23-year-old still had to work on his fitness. In his absence, Upamecano and Hernández made their mark. In the 7-0 win against Bochum, de Ligt played from the start for the first time, after which he sat outside again and played once each with Upamecano and Hernández in the centre, with the latter as a central defender duo only in the cup at third division club Viktoria Köln.
Not the greatest communicator, but a great duel: Lucas Hernández (left).
(Photo: Miguel Medina/AFP)
The fact that Hernández is a suitable partner for de Ligt in the future is due to his strong foot: he is the only Munich central defender who fits better with his left hand, which can not be unimportant in the opening of the game. From the club’s point of view, there is also the economic point of view: the Frenchman cost Atlético Madrid a fee of 80 million euros in 2019.
And the Ligt? “Not only verbally, but also in terms of body language, he is always active and always communicates,” said goalkeeper Manuel Neuer in Milan, but he didn’t want to just refer to the Dutchman: “The other central defenders do that too really good in terms of our defence.” So maybe the game against Milan was just another one in which Julian Nagelsmann rotated in defence. The Munich defenders will probably be measured a little more sustainably in the duel with Barcelona and Robert Lewandowski in the coming week.