Hansi Flick actually felt quite well armed. And the worst, so the FC Bayern coach thought on that wet November evening in Salzburg, he had surely already survived when he showed up again in the stadium for interviews a quarter of an hour after the end of the game. Then it threatened to pound down on him, but a friendly gentleman handed him a large blue umbrella so that at least he didn’t have to stand in the rain in front of the sponsor wall.
No, it was not a very easy trip for Bayern and their coach – and that was not only due to the weather in this third group game in the Champions League against RB Salzburg. The opponent, who turned out to be quite rebellious, was responsible for it a little. A little bit of your own team, which only ensured that the game ended in the final phase like the 13 previous matches in the premier class: with a win.
With the 6-2 success at the Austrian series champions, Bayern have come very close to the round of 16. “It was definitely a top game for the neutral viewer,” said Flick. “Not that great for the coach.” But apparently even more than the negligence of his team in the first 70 minutes annoyed him that a lot revolved around the future of David Alaba and what has happened in the recent past between the Players and club officials in the negotiation rounds about a possible extension of the contract, which will expire next summer.
“It’s important to me that we have peace and quiet in the team,” said Flick, also with a view to the Bundesliga summit against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday (6.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky). Everything else about Alaba has already been said, believes the Bayern coach, who was promoted from assistant to head coach exactly one year earlier.
Sports director Hasan Salihamidzic apparently saw it a little differently. In any case, he fueled the discussion shortly before kick-off, after Alaba himself had given his view of things, which is a little different from that of the club, the day before. “In life and in football you should never say never,” said Salihamidzic on TV channel Sky. But he does not know “how we can still find each other. We made him an offer, it was rejected and now we have to deal with the fact that David will leave us. “
For many years it was part of FC Bayern’s business model to deliberately create a stir in difficult sporting times in order to take pressure off the team and the coach in order to distract. The club actually doesn’t need such maneuvers at all in view of the successful streak this year, but maybe it didn’t bother some Munich that the game in Salzburg was almost only a marginal aspect and no big explanations why the Champions League- Winners with the brave play of the opponent had long difficulties, were challenged.
After Salzburg’s lead by Mergim Berisha in the fourth minute, the triple winner had turned the game around with the penalty goal from Robert Lewandowski (21st) and the own goal by Rasmus Kristensen (44th) forced by Müller, but he only came on a minute earlier Masaya Okugawa nourished the hosts’ hope for a surprise with the equalizer (66th). Jerome Boateng’s 3-2 (79th) tied the knot, before Leroy Sané (83rd), Lewandowski (88th) and Lucas Hernandez (90th) scored for a brilliant final phase.
“The result was a bit high,” admitted Flick. “But I liked the team’s mentality when they came back”. In any case, Bayern were not surprised by the Salzburg performance. “We knew the way of playing,” said Müller. Mainly because it is not that dissimilar to that of the triple winner, as the midfielder noted, “maybe with a tad less control of the game”.
Bayern seem to be looking forward to the international break after the two work victories in Moscow and Cologne and now the long equal duel with Salzburg, as they did at the beginning of October. But before that there is still a big task. With a victory in Dortmund, they would consolidate the league leadership in the Bundesliga, which they had only recaptured last match day. And almost rob the competition of hope again. At least one more exciting late autumn and winter.
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