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FC Bayern Munich has four construction sites after a 1-1 draw against 1. FC Köln

ALate on Tuesday evening, Hasan Salihamidžić, FC Bayern Munich’s sporting director, was standing in the stadium’s interview zone – and it was quickly apparent that he wanted to use a sharper tone than usual. Already in his fourth answer he reprimanded the striker Serge Gnabry so strictly, as one hears very rarely in Munich, more on that later.

And when almost five minutes of his little question and answer session with the reporters had elapsed, the name of the club that you should always think about in Munich during these weeks came up: Paris Saint-Germain. On February 14, Munich will have to face the French champions for the first time in the round of 16 of the Champions League. “There is enough time,” Salihamidžić replied when asked if he was already worried. “But it’s important that we wake up.”

And so on that evening, when his team had played at least 1-1 against Cologne because of a goal by Joshua Kimmich in the 90th minute, you could experience a sports director who in his sharp speech also seemed driven by the fact that it there could be a rude awakening in Paris at the latest.

When FC Bayern Munich competes in the Bundesliga in the first few weeks since the World Cup break, it not only plays against Leipzig (1-1) or Cologne (1-1), but also for Paris. At least that’s what Julian Nagelsmann said recently. As a coach, he discussed the fact that “the way to get there could also involve playing against Paris to a certain extent”, that the current form is “a bit crucial” and that you can “work on it in the Bundesliga”. Now that Julian Nagelsmann and his team have scored two goals and two points in two games there, one can state that there are currently several construction sites on the way to Paris. An overview.

The penalty area construction site

It is symptomatic that Joshua Kimmich had to shoot the ball into the goal from 25 meters on Tuesday. FC Bayern players are finding it difficult to break into the opponent’s penalty area. In the press conference, Julian Nagelsmann said that the positional play, like against Leipzig, didn’t really fit – and that he now wanted to “sharpen awareness of individual actions”.

The weakness of the penalty area can be observed particularly well in the example of one player: 19-year-old Jamal Musiala, who meandered so sensationally through the penalty area this season, is currently unable to do it. He was substituted early against both Leipzig and Cologne. Such a sag is very understandable at his age. And yet it hurts his team more than it should. He was the player in Munich who kept making the difference this season.

The national player construction site

It’s not just Jamal Musiala who is currently playing weaker than in the weeks leading up to the World Cup. You can say the same about Leroy Sané and Serge Gnabry, more on that later. And about Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka, who had to be substituted after 45 minutes against Cologne because of dizziness. But it fits the picture that Ryan Gravenberch did better in his position. And Thomas Müller is currently a substitute.

Thomas Müller is currently only a substitute at Bayern Munich.


Thomas Müller is currently only a substitute at Bayern Munich.
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Image: EPA

But it’s not just the German internationals who aren’t at the highest level yet, but also those who had more success in Qatar. For the fact that the Frenchman Dayot Upamecano has been praised and praised in Munich since the World Cup, he makes decisions there on the field almost every minute that cannot only be praised.

The goalkeeper coach construction site

“We talked about that enough yesterday,” said Hasan Salihamidžić on Tuesday evening when the interview zone was about the dismissal of goalkeeping coach Toni Tapalović. One wondered: with whom? Not with the public. In the message published by the club, Salihamidžić was only quoted in this regard as saying that “particularly there were differences about the way of working together”. On Tuesday he did not want to go into detail.

In the “Sky” interview, Julian Nagelsmann said that the “togetherness” with Tapalović “never came about” as one would imagine, which is why “we had the feeling that it was necessary”. And who will be the new goalkeeping coach? Tom Starke, who is currently doing the training? “We’ll take care of that in the next few days,” said Salihamidžić, who has to reckon with the fact that the goalkeeping construction site could become a goalkeeping construction site this summer.

The boulevard construction site

“I’m not one who rates these tabloid topics very much,” said Julian Nagelsmann at the press conference on Tuesday evening after a “Bild” reporter asked him about Serge Gnabry. The striker traveled to Paris for a fashion show last Sunday – like the rest of the team, he was free. The problem with the matter is that it was Nagelsmann himself who helped push this tabloid topic when he said in the press conference before the game on Monday: “It is important that the right answer comes on the pitch. If it fits on Tuesday, then I’m fine. If it doesn’t fit, I’m not okay with it.”

On Tuesday he replaced Gnabry after 45 minutes. He was able to give a good reason for that – and still didn’t capture the topic because Hasan Salihamidžić said almost at the same time in the interview zone: “That’s amateurish. That’s exactly what I don’t like, exactly what Bayern Munich isn’t: ‘hanging around’ somewhere when you have a day off. A day off is part of resting. We will talk about that.” And it will also be talked about. There is always a boulevard construction site at FC Bayern.

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