Julian Nagelsmann sat in Milan and spoke about Paris. Only briefly, and in response to a related question at the press conference, but he obviously liked the comparison. “The action was almost congruent,” he said, referring to his team’s second goal, in which Leroy Sané and Kingsley Coman played a double one-two in the Inter penalty area, the high art of football. The day before, in Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-1 win over Juventus, Kylian Mbappé and Achraf Hakimi had scored a similar goal.
The class of Paris and his kind, that should be the benchmark for the German record champions this year. Last Champions League season, as a reminder, ended in the quarter-finals against Villareal FC. That was, somewhat simplified, the reason for the many transfers in the summer. The new Champions League season started with a 2-0 win over Inter. “We absolutely passed the endurance test here,” said Thomas Müller.
At a game in Milan, of course, we have to talk about the atmosphere, about this event in a stadium called San Siro and the jumping Inter-Tifosi, which not only make the old stands shake. On Wednesday night, however, it was the Bavarian fans in the upper tier who were loud and not even warned by the announcer while lighting a New Year’s Eve stash of torches. “Superbayern, Superbayern” they sang at the end, and San Siro listened.
This season began for Sané on the bench – but he has always been in the starting XI since the third matchday
Inter could only pose a slight threat to Bayern for short periods, when Edin Dzeko, 36, known from the Bundesliga from the decade before last, got into position, or when Bayern got careless at the end: Lucas Hernández lost the ball on own penalty area. Unlike the last 1-1 draw against Union Berlin, Munich had enough space for their attacks, unlike the 1-1 win against Gladbach they used their chances. Especially one.
Nagelsmann’s comparison with Paris also fitted to a certain extent on a second level. As is well known, at PSG they have gathered more or less moody attacking artists who are hard to stop when they reach their potential, which they don’t always feel like doing. Of course they don’t have such a capricious offensive in Munich. But they have at least one highly gifted attacking player who hasn’t shed the image of a moody artist for years: Sané, who scored the first goal in Milan by taking an ingenious long pass from Joshua Kimmich with his outstretched left foot and around Milan keeper André Onana dribbled. The 2-0, an own goal by Danilo d’Ambrosio, he forced after the mentioned one-two.
“It’s really fun to watch Leroy”: Leroy Sané not only convinced Bayern sports director Hasan Salihamidzic on Wednesday evening.
(Photo: Luca Bruno/AP)
“I think he played very well, he is a key player for special moments and can decide games in the condition he is in at the moment,” said goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. “He enjoys football, he’s dangerous, he works backwards and forwards. It’s really fun to watch Leroy,” said sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic. But Müller put it most succinctly: “If he plays great, he gets a lot of praise, and rightly so. If he doesn’t play so well, then there is criticism. The praise is usually too much and the criticism too.”
Sané is now playing his third season at Bayern Munich since moving from Manchester City. The second began with whistles from a few fans in the Munich Arena, which you might only hear because only a few spectators were allowed due to Corona. The 26-year-old responded with a significant increase in performance before becoming a little weaker again in the second half of the season. On the one hand he was Bayern’s second-best preparer and third-best scorer in all games combined, on the other hand he was not involved in a goal from the beginning of March until the summer break.
This season started for him on the bench, but he already made a good impression after his substitutions. He has always been in the starting XI in the league since matchday three, and he scored the important equalizer against Mönchengladbach. In Milan he stood out with his involvement in goals and chances. And shortly after he scored, for example, he could be found on the defensive after a sprint back. It is an allegedly casual attitude towards work that his notorious critics accuse him of with particular passion.
Thomas Müller shows again this evening how important he is, especially in pressing
If he’s playing like he is at the moment, it’s hard to imagine the starting eleven without him, which leads to the defining topic at Bayern these days: There is no starting eleven, apart from Manuel Neuer in goal, Kimmich in midfield and Alphonso Davies as left-back unlike Benjamin Pavard on the right has no challenger.
Only Sadio Mané has played from the start on offense so far, but the wealth of opportunities is particularly clear in attack. Jamal Musiala, for example, only came off the bench, although he has been one of the best in recent weeks. And Mané fell off a bit for the first time. Although he offered many running paths as the front tip, Nagelsmann expressly praised that, but he hardly appeared with the ball. Müller, on the other hand, showed all the more how important, basically irreplaceable, he is, especially in pressing.
And the competition continues: in midfield, where Leon Goretzka, who is healthy after knee surgery, came on for Marcel Sabitzer after an hour and later said he was “ready for the starting XI”. Or in defence, where well-rehearsed central defenders are most needed, but the same duo rarely plays two games in a row. This time Matthijs de Ligt and Lucas Hernández played.
On the other hand, the Munich footballers should understand the rotation. You’re not Paris Saint-Germain. And they see why it is necessary to keep changing in this historically short first half of the season because of the World Cup in November: FC Barcelona are coming to Munich on Tuesday, with Robert Lewandowski, who represented Barca in the 5-1 win against Viktoria Pilsen hit three times. “Congratulations,” said Salihamidzic. He didn’t want to say more. VfB Stuttgart will come first on Saturday.