On the sidelines of FC Bayern’s Youth League game, sports director Freund confirmed that Goretzka had been sidelined for a young Munich star. He is anticipating national coach Nagelsmann.
The squad restructuring announced by national coach Julian Nagelsmann has found its first victim in Leon Goretzka. As Munich sports director Christoph Freund indirectly confirmed on Tuesday evening, the record champions’ midfielder will not be nominated for the German national team’s upcoming games in France (March 23) and against the Netherlands (March 26). Instead, Bayern youngster Aleksandar Pavlović is there.
“Aleks has developed incredibly well. He plays extremely consistently and with a high level of self-confidence – even in international games where there is a lot of pressure. This is an award for us and we are of course pleased,” said Freund on the sidelines of the Youth League. Munich game on campus in a media round. He called the fact that Goretzka wasn’t taken into account “a shame because Leon has done really well recently and is an absolute leading player for us.”
The squad for the start of the European Championship year will be officially announced on Thursday. Nagelsmann had emphasized that he did not want to shy away from unpopular measures with a view to the home tournament. “One or two people who many people think will definitely be there will definitely not be nominated,” said the national coach.
Goretzka, like almost all of his Bayern colleagues, has been in a slump of form lately, but had a positive performance both in the 8-1 win against FSV Mainz 05 last Saturday, where he scored two goals and provided two assists, and in the 3-0 win against Lazio on Tuesday Rome performed well. Pavlović, on the other hand, attracted attention this season with strong performances in defensive midfield, but the 19-year-old would also be eligible to play for the Serbian association. Pavlović would not be able to play for the DFB by playing in the upcoming test matches.
It was Goretzka, of all people, who recently promoted the DFB: “It’s a decision that everyone has to make for themselves,” said Goretzka, referring to Pavlović. “But if I could give Aleks a recommendation, I would choose the DFB if I were him,” said the midfield star in an interview with t-online. “I’m a big fan of Aleks, who is playing with total freedom at the moment,” he praised his young Bayern colleague. “That’s really good for me personally too. It’s fun to see how he’s currently enjoying every second.”