In the Bundesliga’s top match, two of Germany’s greatest talents also meet. Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann explained one difference.
“Just the two of them won’t get anything done, though,” admitted Julian Nagelsmann at the press conference before the top match, after he too had been tempted to declare Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz at least “part of the future of German football”.
Leverkusen against Bayern on Sunday will also mean a direct comparison between the two 18-year-olds that all of footballing Germany is eyeing at the moment. Or is it? In view of four goals and five assists in just six Bundesliga appearances in 2021/22, Nagelsmann highlighted Florian Wirtz’s statistics – “but he has more playing time than Jamal, you can’t compare that”. So will Musiala have to watch in the duel between first and second?
“In the end, you can only field eleven players,” explained Nagelsmann, who values Musiala’s abilities as a “good joker with clever solutions in one-on-one situations”. In addition, without mentioning the buzzword, he has to pay attention to the load management. Musiala is “not yet a fully trained athlete” and has already received many minutes at the beginning of the season.
“These are players who bring that ballpark mentality to the stadiums. “
JULIAN NAGELSMANN ON JAMAL MUSIALA AND FLORIAN WIRTZ
While Wirtz can most likely be expected in Leverkusen’s starting eleven, Musiala may “only” be used as a wild card. But Nagelsmann wouldn’t mind seeing both of them on the field together either: “They’re two players who play very carefree, who bring that ballcourt mentality to the stadiums.”
The bottom line, he said, is that the two talents, who have already played their way into the German senior national team, are primarily differentiated by playing time at this point. “But sooner or later Jamal will establish himself as a regular player,” Nagelsmann assured with a grin. And Wirtz probably will too.
