Almost a year ago, Aleksandar Pavlovic made his breakthrough at Bayern Munich. Now the 20-year-old has impressively established himself – and had a special week with the national team.
Slightly injured, the midfielder initially missed the game in Bosnia-Herzegovina. National coach Julian Nagelsmann revealed that Pavlovic would otherwise have been fielded. Of all places, he was allowed to start in the Allianz Arena in his hometown of Munich in the 1-0 win over the Netherlands, his first start in only his fourth international.
He didn’t perform quite as strikingly as his teammate Angelo Stiller, who, unlike Pavlovic, never got a fair chance at FC Bayern and only made it to the national team via a detour through Hoffenheim and VfB Stuttgart. Nevertheless, Pavlovic played with composure and a healthy sense of self-confidence.
“When you play your first few games for the national team, you might not dare to do everything. But it was as if it were his 50th international match,” Manuel Neuer praised Pavlovic the next day at an event hosted by Bayern’s car sponsor, referring to Pavlovic’s ‘coolness and composure’. A few meters further on, Pavlovic inspected his new speedster before he satisfied the autograph and selfie requests of the fans.
Placed alongside Kimmich
In the second half against the Netherlands, Pavlovic played on the ten – “for the first time, I’ve never done that before”. Tijjani Reinjnders’ kick on his shin was painful, but had no consequences, Pavlovic will be available on Saturday in the southern hit against VfB Stuttgart.
Then he is likely to start again alongside Joshua Kimmich, forming a double six with him. Despite a few counterattacking goals recently, the duo harmonizes splendidly, especially in building attacks, and also ensures that there is currently no place in the starting lineup for 50-million-euro signing Joao Palhinha. The irony is that Pavlovic was given his chance a year ago, mainly because the transfer of the Portuguese did not work out. A year later, the Portuguese player has arrived and is not getting past Pavlovic.
