The welcome applause from Bayern fans for Julian Nagelsmann was still a little restrained. The 5300 mostly young visitors in the Allianz Arena cheered on Wednesday afternoon at the team presentation of the Munich record champions for the 2021/22 season but even more the well-known top stars such as Manuel Neuer, Robert Lewandowski and Joshua Kimmich to as the new trainer.
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Nagelsmann and his players stepped onto the Allianz Arena lawn one by one. And a real Olympic champion was also given plenty of applause as the star guest of the event: tennis professional Alexander Zverev even had his gold medal from Tokyo with him. The 24-year-old still seemed to be in the Olympic frenzy. “It was a few unforgettable days for me,” said Zverev, looking back on the exciting and successful time in Tokyo. “The gold medal means the world to me”he said over a stadium microphone after captain Neuer gave him a black Bayern jersey.
Zverev sympathizes with Germany’s top club. He actually watches all the games, he said. He wished the team “all the best” for the season. In a legendary game, the tennis professional later played in a team with ex-Bayern star Franck Ribéry. Before that, Zverev had a lively chat with Lewandowski; maybe he got some tips from the Polish world footballer.
During the training, Nagelsmann’s attentive gaze got down to business. “I’m happy to be here,” said the 34-year-old coach – “with the exception of the friendly matches, I’m very satisfied.” None of the four in the preparation were won. After the DFB Cup game with the amateurs of Bremer SV is canceled this Friday due to corona cases with the opponent, Nagelsmann now has to wait at least until the Bundesliga opening game on August 13 at Borussia Mönchengladbach for his first victory as Bayern coach. “Let’s attack it,” he announced energetically.
Meanwhile, there is still heated discussion about the Munich squad. This is still exquisitely occupied, but not too lavish in width. “We have a good bond”, Kimmich calmed down during the team presentation. Recently there were rumors about a possible transfer by RB Leipzig professional Marcel Sabitzer. Shortly before the start of the season there were a few failures, from world champion Lucas Hernández to Kingsley Coman, who suffered a bruised pelvis during the friendly against SSC Napoli. New signing Omar Richards also took a break on Wednesday. “It’s always our job to sound out the transfer market. We have a good squad, but you can always optimize,” Nagelsmann said last.
