FC Bayern will have to do without coach Julian Nagelsmann for the Champions League match at Benfica Lisbon.
As the German record champions announced on Wednesday evening, the 34-year-old “unfortunately cannot sit on the bench due to a flu infection”. The head coach will be replaced by his assistants Xaver Zembrod and Dino Toppmöller.
“It’s all been discussed, Julian put it all together yesterday. “
DINO TOPPMÖLER
“It’s all been discussed, Julian was still arranging everything yesterday,” Toppmöller told DAZN shortly before kick-off. The Nagelsmann representative also revealed that “contact will be made at half-time” with the head coach, who is ill and watching the game from his hotel room. There is no direct connection to Toppmöller during the game.
The match in the Estádio da Luz will kick off at 9 pm. Bayern are aiming for their third win in the third group match. In 2020, Bayern won the Champions League in this stadium with a 1-0 win over Paris St. Germain. The match-winner for FC Bayern was Kingsley Coman with a stunning header – the French international returns to the starting line-up against Benfica. The attacking player last started in the Supercup match in August, when Bayern won 3:1 in Dortmund.
The French side then eliminated the Nagelsmann-coached Leipzig side in the semi-finals. Due to the pandemic, Königsklasse was played in tournament form in August 2020 – without a first and second leg. PSG, then still coached by Thomas Tuchel, gave RB no chance in a 3-0 win.
