“I’ve rarely seen it” – Salihamidzic settles accounts with Bayern professionals
On the ground: Kingsley Coman and Bayern
Source: AP/Martin Meissner
FC Bayern loses in Leverkusen and goes into second place in the top game against BVB in two weeks. Sports director Salhimadzic in particular does not leave the players in good spirits. He asks the mentality question.
Thomas Müller didn’t even want to look at the pictures. He only watched with one eye during the pitchside interview as the two pivotal scenes of the game were replayed. It was the two penalties that the referee only gave after viewing the video images for Bayer Leverkusen. They both led to goals and Bayern defeat. The Munich team lost 2-1 in Leverkusen and missed the leap to the top of the table, greeted by Borussia Dortmund.
“That was right. We don’t need to discuss the referee’s decisions, we have other issues there,” said Thomas Müller. Bayern’s midfielder was tough on himself and his own team: “We lost a lot of balls very quickly. Overall, the defeat is deserved. We missed a lot that made us strong in the last few weeks.” Leverkusen was more toxic and bilious: “We’re not where we should be in the Bundesliga. We have to ask ourselves a few questions. After the break we have a real blast against Dortmund, of course we expected the starting position to be different.”
Sports director Hasan Salihamidzic was very sharp with the players. He even asked the mentality question. “That wasn’t what Bayern Munich means,” said Salihamidzic, who literally settled accounts with the pros: “We missed everything. We let ourselves be overrun by a team that was still playing on Thursday.” When asked if he felt angry or what the prevailing feeling was, he replied: “I don’t know what these feelings are called.”
Salihamidzic undoubtedly saw the reason for the defeat in the attitude. “I’ve rarely experienced so little drive, so little mentality, so little duel, so little assertiveness,” he said: “This team is so good when they have a mentality right from the start and go 100 percent. And she’s not as good when she’s playing like she is today. When she is lazy and thinks that she can do anything with the playful quality. She just can’t.”
“We definitely have to win against BVB”
The Bundesliga is pausing in the coming weeks due to international matches. On April 1, Bayern welcome BVB to the absolute top game in the Bundesliga. Dortmund are one point ahead of Munich at the top of the table and are going into the game in Munich with the self-confidence of the 6-1 thrashing of Cologne.
Bayern, on the other hand, only won five of the ten Bundesliga games after the winter break and scored ten points fewer than BVB in this period.
Coach Julian Nagelsmann is under pressure before the top game and makes it himself. “They were both penalties, they weren’t swallows. We were the worse team up to the last ten minutes, we didn’t play well,” said Nagelsmann. His team was somehow sluggish: “We definitely have to win against BVB, otherwise it will be difficult to win the championship.”