Two coaches stood on the sidelines, half-time was not far away, an amazingly warm October wind drove into their light summer clothing, they looked at each other – one enthusiastic, the other aghast. A goal had just been scored. On the left was Christian Streich, employed at SC Freiburg since the Pleistocene, when the glaciers gave the Black Forest its finishing touches.
On the right stood Julian Nagelsmann, who has only been with FC Bayern for a year and a half and is probably why his former bosses still refer to him here and there as a “talent trainer”. Streich and Nagelsmann followed a tactically very interesting game, in which one of the two had woven an idea that the other probably hadn’t counted on. And this coach was perhaps too tough for a talent.
Debates had been going on at Bayern for weeks about a squad that was teeming with magic feet, but which would be missing one component since Robert Lewandowski left: a classic centre-forward. And then, of all things, Nagelsmann nominated Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in the top game against second-placed SC Freiburg in place of Thomas Müller, who was recently suffering from back pain – and thus surprised the experienced coach Streich with a real nine on this wrong summer day. A plan that, one might say, worked out in just 30 minutes like yeast dough overnight.
The game resulted in an unnecessary degradation of Freiburg
When the coaches’ eyes met on the sidelines, Choupo-Moting had already prepared a goal and scored it 2-0 himself. In the style of a center forward, he had expected the ball with his back to the goal, then pulled to the right, got rid of his opponent Matthias Ginter with his left arm, as if he were not a national player but a parasitic wasp, and then the game device with his right Foot slammed into the left corner at a bizarrely acute angle: The 2-0 in the 33rd minute means the preliminary decision in a game that ultimately ended 5-0 and resulted in an unnecessary degradation of Freiburg.
And at the end of which two things dawned on the spectators: A powerful striker can sometimes be helpful in a team full of prodigies, even if his name isn’t Robert Lewandowski. And the championship trophy will probably not be sent to the country again at the end of May.
And so the imaginative Munich coach offered an alternative to the club officials on the day after the annual general meeting. They like to change nothing (Qatar sponsorship), but cleverly sell it to the public as change; Nagelsmann always changes something on the pitch, but sometimes sells it undervalue with bad results.
But not on Sunday. After just one win in five league games, Nagelsmann once again coached under the critical lens of those responsible on Säbener Straße. Then his team scored five goals and moved past the sports club in the table, which according to their own understanding should always be behind Bayern.
Freiburg had traveled to Munich with a certain anticipation, which they had fed on Thursday evening with four goals at French Cup winners Nantes. The game with which the guests had qualified early for the knockout phase of the Europa League was actually the sports club’s eleventh non-defeat in all competitions. “Bayern will of course attack us on Sunday,” Streich had suspected and announced: “We’re fine and we’ll defend ourselves with everything we have.”
Some things were not available, but at least the closet-like striker Michael Gregoitsch, who made representations to Manuel Neuer’s representative Sven Ulreich right at the start – but only to shadow him. The overture was treacherous: for a moment it looked as if Bayern were struggling against the disciplined staggering of Freiburg, who always got a foot into the planned ball circulations and tried to cross into the back of the Munich defence.
It was Alphonso Davies who, just in dire need, defused a cross in front of Ritsu Doan – when an important detail of Nagelsmann’s plan suddenly came up: with an overview and a fine foot, Choupo-Moting initially secured a ball in the penalty area, as the saying goes , then he freed Davies on the left wing. He passed the ball inwards at high speed, and after Mark Flekken was able to parry Leroy Sané’s first shot, Serge Gnabry lurked in ambush – and headed in (13′).
Bayern led, but Freiburg remained dangerous. First. With a simple one-two, Christian Günter and Kevin Schade tore a hole in the Bayern order, which gaped from the center line to the penalty area. Despite all their initial efforts, the guests always lacked the necessary precision in the final pass.
The Munich team preferred to play their game over the strong Davies on the left. Most astonishing, however, was the attempt by the offensive series around Mané, Sané and Gnabry not only to seek out and free Choupo-Moting, but also to integrate it. The events in just two minutes of the second half can serve as an example here: First the striker played a one-two with Gnabry, which he put on the post. Then he put it back on Sané, who twisted it in from the edge of the penalty area to make it 3-0 (53′).
The fact that Choupo-Moting was not involved in the fourth goal was almost a small punch line in view of his gala evening. On the other hand, when Sadio Mané overcame Flekken with a wonderful lift and thus robbed the poor Freiburgers of the rest of their self-esteem, Choupo-Moting was not that far away. He would certainly have had a margin! And with Marcel Sabitzer’s final goal ten minutes before the end, he was seriously to be excused. He had already left the square a quarter of an hour earlier – to ovations from the Munich audience.