A duel for great triumphs, great tragedy – and great coaching moments…
On Tuesday evening the time has come: the big cracker Paris St-Germain against Bayern Munich ( 9 p.m. / here in the live ticker). In recent years, Paris has often been the adversary of fate for Bayern coaches – also for Julian Nagelsmann (35)?
In September 2017, PSG brought Carlo Ancelotti (63) out. In the 3-0 defeat in Paris, he left out Hummels, Boateng, Ribéry, Robben and Coman in the group stage. His end was sealed that night, President Uli Hoeneß (71) then poisoned: “As a coach, you cannot have your most prominent players as opponents. I have come to know a saying in my life: The enemy in your bed is the most dangerous. That is why we had to act.”
Had his final against PSG: Ex-Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti (now Real) was coach of the record champions from 2016 to 2017
For Hansi Flick (57), on the other hand, Paris became a triumph opponent: in the final in Lisbon 2020 he won in a furious final thanks to an outstanding Manuel Neuer (36) and the goal from Coman 1-0 against Paris and Thomas Tuchel (49).
And Nagelsmann? Paris will also be his destiny for him: Can he play big knockout games?
Are Messi and Mbappe playing? Ripe assumption about the PSG line-up against Bayern
Last year, Bayern were knocked out by Villarreal in the quarter-finals.
If he also loses the top of the table in the league between the two duels, things could get tight.
BILD expert Marcel Reif: “It’s an extremely important game, if not the most important one in his career. Now it’s not just fun anymore, it’s shark swimming. If something doesn’t go well, the coach is the first to fly. That would also be the case with Julian Nagelsmann. Of course they would fire him if all the levees burst.”
Paris is also Nagelsmann’s first real knockout game with Bayern in the Champions League, last year he only had Salzburg in the round of 16 – and Villarreal. Can he do it on the big stage too?
Experienced his greatest triumph: Hansi Flick won the pot against Paris in 2020 and became national coach a year later
BILD asked Hasan Salihamidzic: How important is the game for the coach after Villarreal last season?
Salihamidzic: “It’s very important for the coach, for the players, for the club, for all of us. We know how we got eliminated last year, but we’re not thinking about that now.”
Incidentally, Paris also prevented Nagelsmann’s greatest success to date: in 2020 he was kicked out with Leipzig in the Champions League semi-final against PSG.
