After the 3:2 against Leipzig, Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann was happy about a “nice victory” against his former club – but also analysed the mistakes of his team relentlessly.
Because he “just doesn’t want to sacrifice anyone” up front and a defensive chain with four centre-backs doesn’t suit his convictions, Julian Nagelsmann again relied on his 3-2-4-1 formation against Leipzig. The 3-2 win on Saturday evening showed its merits, but also risks and side effects.
“I decided to bring in the currently offensively strongest eleven,” Nagelsmann explained afterwards on “Sky”. This also has a decisive advantage against the ball: “Unfortunately, many people underestimate the fact that you have one more player in the pressing when assessing the three-man defence.
Nagelsmann admits: “A draw would also have been okay.
As in the 4:1 win at Hertha, Bayern repeatedly won the ball and had many opportunities to score, and afterwards their coach spoke of an “important” and “also beautiful victory”. But the fact that he admitted at the same time that it was “not mega-deserved” and that “a draw would also have been okay” hinted at some weaknesses in the performance of the champions. And Nagelsmann analysed them ruthlessly.
“We made a big mistake in the first half: We wanted to finish every attack,” the 34-year-old complained. “We played forward far too quickly, far, far too quickly. We played a lot of risky passes, which is basically good if you want to score goals. But there were one or two moments too many.” It was only after the change of ends that his team acted with “more patience” and “had more control”.
Pavard does not stick to “clear announcement “
Nagelsmann was also displeased with the way the two goals against were scored. When the ball was lost before the 1:1 – Manuel Neuer called it an “egg goal” – Leroy Sané had played his pass to Corentin Tolisso “very, very sharply”, “we just have to play it a bit softer”, said the coach. And before the 2:2, Benjamin Pavard apparently did not stick to the arrangements when he lost sight of Christopher Nkunku.
“That annoys me a bit because it was specific to the match plan,” said Nagelsmann: His former protégé Nkunku “always makes these runs, then he briefly goes to the outside, then deep. The clear message was that in such situations we only defend the depth, not speculate on winning the ball. Benji takes that one step out because he thinks he might be able to intercept the pass. But there the balls are well timed. We can definitely prevent the second goal.”
However, with “a bit of luck”, Serge Gnabry quickly countered the 2:2 in tandem with the deflecting own goal Josko Gvardiol. “We got the three points,” Nagelsmann said, “and that’s the decisive factor in the end.
