Considered one of the favorites for the final victory in the Champions League, Bayern Munich is back to the wall before the quarter-final return against Villareal. Beaten in the first leg (1-0), Bavarians can consider themselves lucky not to have conceded three or four goals, given the superiority and the number of missed chances of the team of wily Unai Emery. “We made a lot of mistakes on the way out. They did one: let us live. And we have to punish them for it“, coach Julian Nagelsmann said on Monday.
A world champion at the heart of an improbable exchange between Bayern and Juve?
Against the “Yellow Submarine”, current 7th in La Liga, the powerful German champion certainly has the intrinsic quality to qualify. Provided he regains his offensive power and his attack-defense balance, mysteriously evaporated in recent weeks. Saturday in the league against Augsburg, the team again delivered a poor performance at home (1-0). It took a penalty from Robert Lewandowski in the 82nd minute to overcome an opponent struggling to maintain.
Champions League
Nagelsmann warns Villarreal ahead of return: ‘We will punish them’
9 HOURS AGO
“We lacked running speed, ball speed, we didn’t have the momentum“, recognized the coach Julian Nagelsmann.
“House on Fire”
Short of explanations, the young technician replaced the analysis with the incantation: “It wasn’t a glamorous match, but I don’t give a damn“, he said hotly. “We are in a phase where it is no longer a question of shining, but of winning.” The problem “depends first on our mental approach“, believes Joshua Kimmich, the “warrior” of the midfield, also in decline lately, just like his teammates Leroy Sané, Serge Gnabry or even Thomas Müller.
Joshua Kimmich
Credit: Getty Images
Sign of a certain feverishness, the team’s captains have been competing for three days with martial declarations, as if to ward off the anguish of an elimination: “The house is on fire, we will deliver a match worthy of Bayern“, swears Leon Goretzka. Asked about the reasons to believe it, captain Manuel Neuer mentioned in a pre-match press conference “willingness“You Bavaria.”We have character in this team, a lot of pride“, he said, “when we lost a first leg, you shouldn’t joke with us“.
About interviews … which do not hide one of Bayern’s big shortcomings this season: the absence of leaders in the field, especially behind.
“Once again, we saw that they had no boss, and this is not the first time this season“, had tackled on the go Dietmar Hamann. Former Bayern turned consultant, he notes that, in this role, the departure of David Alaba to Real this summer was not compensated. “The defense lacks a leader“, adds Kickerthe German football magazine: “Lucas Hernandez is certainly an aggressive defender, but he needs a player next to him to give the instructions. Dayot Upamecano is not (yet) capable of it and Niklas Süle is not that kind of personality“.
Against Villarreal, who only reached the last four of the Champions League once (in 2006, beaten by Arsenal), the Germans with six European titles nevertheless remain favorites. In the previous round against Salzburg, they had already come through in the first leg, snatching a 1-1 draw in the dying seconds in Austria. Before rolling their opponents 7-1 at the Allianz Arena. Will they be able to ‘punish’ Villarreal in the same way? Maybe … But a statistic can make them tremble: since 2015, Bayern have lost a first leg in the Champions League five times. And each time he was eliminated.
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