AWhen Leon Goretzka crossed the ball with his right foot, when Jamal Musiala pressed the ball with his forehead, when 70,000 people in the arena in Munich watched the ball and also yelled at it, you could get a glimpse of what Julian Nagelsmann had come up with. In his most important game as FC Bayern soccer coach, he had set up Goretzka and Musiala, the German internationals, from the start. Just like in the first group game of the Champions League against FC Barcelona. That was in September.
Now, seven months later, Villarreal goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli saved Musiala’s header in the 29th minute. And although the opportunity was a good one, Nagelsmann had to admit after the first half: It was also the only one. On Tuesday evening, Nagelsmann and his team had to catch up from a 1-0 deficit from the first leg in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
He lined up differently from Villarreal, where his side were so inferior that they could have lost by two or even three goals. Nagelsmann made a chain of three out of the four – and replaced left-back Alphonso Davies with midfielder Musiala. He probably wanted to strengthen the middle. Where the most powerful teams in world football dominate the game. But the dominance of Bayern was a sham dominance.
A team without power
Then came the 52nd minute. A bad mistake by Dani Parejo. A sprint by Kingsley Coman. A goal by Robert Lewandowski. 1:0 Everything open. Then came the 88th minute. A good pass from Dani Parejo. A sprint by Gerard Moreno. A goal by Samu Chukwueze. 1:1 All over. In his first season in Munich, Julian Nagelsmann and his team were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Champions League – against the seventh-placed team in the Spanish league.
What that says about the present and future of Germany’s largest football club will now be discussed. But this much was already clear after the final whistle: In the most important weeks of the season, Bayern were a team without power. Sure, Villarreal isn’t Salzburg, but it’s not Manchester City either. The Spaniards know what they can and cannot do. Under the trainer Unai Emery, they play almost flawlessly, both tactically and technically. That was enough to push Bayern to their limits – even if Villarreal perhaps also stretched the limits of fair play (time wasting!).
Bayern can hardly complain about that. They failed because of themselves. In their urge phase in the second half, they twice missed the second goal. In the 50th minute, when Dayot Upamecano shot the ball over the goal from ten meters. And in the 71st minute, when Thomas Müller headed the ball wide of the goal from five yards out. In the closing stages Julian Nagelsmann brought on Serge Gnabry and Alphonso Davies and Unai Emery Samu Chukwueze. Then came the 88th minute. Davies canceled the offside. Chukwueze met. And set the final punchline on an evening when you will still nibble in Munich.
