It was Bayern’s first away defeat in the Champions League after 25 games unbeaten. Back then, in September 2017, Bayern had against PSG lost. Paris coach at the time was Unai Emery, now in charge of Villarreal FC. Emery particularly enjoys coaching against Bayern.
“Mia san a riddle” instead of “Mia san Mia”
“We made a lot of mistakes in the first leg. They made one by letting us live – and we should punish that”said Nagelsmann. It won’t be easy. The absence of national player Niklas Süle (flu) is not the biggest problem.
Most recently, Bayern had trouble with FC Augsburg in the Bundesliga, it reminded little of the impressive performances of the past few months. The defense spoke little and made mistakes, and on offense they looked for gaps and didn’t find them. Only Robert Lewandowski scored – from the penalty spot.
“Mia san a riddle”, so headlined the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, it was of course an allusion to the self-image of the club. But it was also a successful description of the state of Bayern’s two most recent competitive games.
Diamonds, pressure, heat – a dangerous mixture
And now, before the second leg, there are suddenly thoughts of what you actually thought was unthinkable. That FC Bayern could actually be eliminated against the small Villarreal. Then Julian Nagelsmann’s first season as Bayern coach would not be a successful one, and the tenth championship title in a row would not change that. Especially since the club had already failed early in the DFB Cup.
Nagelsmann is certain that his players can handle the pressure. Sometimes be one “special attraction, a special pressure” really helpful, said Nagelsmann, “to tease out a special performance.”
Because it just fitted so nicely, he also talked about precious stones. Bayern’s squad is one that sparkles, but recently the impression was a bleak one. Nagelsman said: “Diamonds are also created under high pressure, so maybe we can create a brilliant game.” Now that’s a thing with the formation of diamonds. Not only does it need pressure, it needs to be hot, really hot, 300 to 400 kilometers underground.
Incidentally, diamonds only become visible when pressure and heat have led to an explosion and lava washes the coveted stones to the surface of the earth. They could probably do without such a spectacle in Munich.
Source: tbe/sid/dpa