Dhe big Paris poker around Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi did not get Hasan Salihamidzic to boil. The sports director of FC Bayern Munich put on a poker face in a black suit when he spoke at Munich Airport. “I know what kind of players and top stars they are, but I’m concentrating on our team,” said the 46-year-old before the sizzling football spectacle. “These are highlights in the life of every footballer.”
The sports director ended his urgent appeal shortly before leaving for the showdown at Paris Saint-Germain with four key words and demands on the Munich stars: “Activity, energy, aggressiveness, mentality.” All of this must be brought to the pitch against the PSG superstars .
In the Prinzenpark, which has never been a feel-good place for FC Bayern, on Tuesday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Champions League and on Prime Video) a preliminary decision will be made as to what splendor the second Bayern season under Julian Nagelsmann could shine in – or neither. The still young coach knows that he has to do a lot of things right in terms of tactics and personnel in the round of 16 – unlike a year ago when he was knocked out in the quarterfinals against outsiders FC Villarreal. “For the coach, for the players, for the club – the game is very important for all of us,” said Salihamidzic.
“The best player in the world”
What was before – at Bayern with the unrest about captain Manuel Neuer and the dull Bochum dress rehearsal, at PSG with injured stars, defeats and a bad mood – is no longer of interest at the kick-off. After all, the premier class is the stage for which both clubs and international stars live and burn.
“The whole of Europe is hot for the game,” said Leon Goretzka. A battered Messi, a lightning-fast healed Mbappé, a weak Neymar? gift. Paris needs its superstars – now! “Only the Champions League counts for Paris anyway,” said Goretzka. The Qatari owners want the trophy badly.
Nagelsmann has other questions buzzing around in his head. What promises a good result for the second leg? Chain of three or chain of four? More compact or totally bold with the full offensive band? During training in cool, hazy Munich on Monday, the 35-year-old looked closely, wrapped up warm in a hat and gloves. “You have to win as Paris – or as Bayern Munich,” said Nagelsmann, who was in a bad mood after beating Bochum 3-0. “That he shows emotions, that he’s angry sometimes – that’s actually what we want,” said Salihamidzic. “He also demands these emotions from the players on the pitch.”
The loser gets a problem. Great coaches and great players prove themselves in big games. World champion Messi (35) can do that. And has Jamal Musiala (19) already? The comparison of generations is one of the attractions of the meeting of the giants. Messi is the “world champion, the player who shaped the world of football for 15, 20 years. The best player in the world,” Salihamidzic paid tribute to the Argentine.
It will certainly not be anything in Paris in Bochum style. Nagelsmann clearly conveyed this to his pros. The sound of the Champions League anthem should ensure a completely different level of energy on the pitch. “I hope that the appeal of the competition, the appeal of the duel, will bring freshness to your head,” said Nagelsmann.
Don’t worry, Kingsley assured Coman. “It will be a great game,” said Bayern’s “King”, who headed the winning goal in the final against his former club from Paris in the 2020 final in Lisbon. Joshua Kimmich will be back in the starting XI in Munich after being suspended against Bochum. Yann Sommer wants to show against Messi, Mbappé and Neymar that he is a goalkeeper at the highest Neuer level. Thomas Müller is also ready after calf problems. “We have to be there,” the leader admonished.
The phenomenon of injured stars miraculously getting fit before big games was seen at PSG on Monday. During training in sunny Paris, Messi and Mbappé ran across the lawn looking lively. Nagelsmann had already suspected the poker game when the French champions announced a break of several weeks for the World Cup top scorer Mbappé, who had injured his thigh. The Bayern coach will therefore prepare his team for everything, if only for “self-protection”, so that nobody can say: “What kind of an idiot is Nagelsmann, he lets himself be blinded.”
Paris with Messi and Mbappé is of course of a different caliber than Paris without M & M. “These are two players with very special skills that make the difference,” said Nagelsmann: “If we lose two top players, we are probably one too Bit weaker.” In fact: Two years ago, when Bayern were unlucky to lose against PSG in the quarter-finals, Robert Lewandowski was injured in the first and second leg. Incidentally, Mbappé was the match winner for PSG in the 3-2 first leg win in Munich with two goals.
