In Bochum, the Bayern starting eleven will inevitably look different for the first time this season. Trainer Julian Nagelsmann only revealed one detail in advance.
Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann takes it with humor.
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Julian Nagelsmann had planned two changes for Sunday’s away game in Bochum anyway, completely independent of the personnel situation. The coach didn’t really want to reveal more beforehand, but then did: Matthijs de Ligt should have made his starting eleven debut in the Bundesliga.
This is now on the brink because the Dutchman tore a ligament in his hand during training. A splint is made quickly and then it is checked whether it works and whether de Ligt is painless at all.
Nagelsmann: “It’s actually quite simple”
Nagelsmann always justifies the fact that the 67 million euro newcomer has only found himself on the bench by saying that he only wants to use new players when they are at 100 percent performance – so as not to burn them. And also: “The player has an obligation to deliver and has to show that he is ready and better than those who are currently playing. It’s actually very simple.”
“This is very related from a monetary point of view”
So far, Lucas Hernandez and Dayot Upamecano have not given their coach any reason to change anything. “I know that everything is very quickly reduced to monetary terms, how expensive they were and how many millions are sitting in the bank.” However, Hernandez and Upamecano together also cost 122.5 million euros. Nagelsmann believes: “It doesn’t really matter whether Matthijs is playing and Upa is sitting on the bench or the other way around. From a monetary point of view, it’s very related.”
After all, the players are with FC Bayern Munich, and “at Bayern Munich there will always be millions on the bench, that should be the claim – also to have a good bank in terms of quality.”
The 35-year-old smiles away that Nagelsmann sent the same starting XI into the race on the first two Bundesliga match days: “We’re not 18 points ahead and I can try things out as I want. Last year it was always a bit for me accused that there were too many changes, too much turmoil. Now it’s stability, too much stability.” He is the coach who has played the least with the same eleven in his years in the Bundesliga. “I’m deeply relaxed.”
