Dhe club mascot Berni the bear jumped for joy, the stadium DJ turned up the music and the FC Bayern stars danced in front of the crowd. “Super Bayern, Super Bayern”, shouted the supporters of the German soccer record champions on Saturday evening after the 5: 3 (4: 1) against FC Augsburg.
With the victory in the Bavarian derby, the Munich team had made their week a perfect one. After the 2-0 win in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 against the star ensemble from Paris St. Germain on Wednesday, it was the second win in four days.
Gnabry’s call to the starting XI against FC Augsburg was one of five personnel changes made by Bayern coach Nagelsmann compared to the Paris game
Source: Getty Images/Alexander Hassenstein
A great success against Paris and a goal-rich win in the Bundesliga – Julian Nagelsmann was satisfied. “We did the job we had in the week,” said the coach. Serge Gnabry’s mood, on the other hand, was obviously a bit clouded. The 27-year-old didn’t stand out in the game, with four of Bayern’s goals scored by defenders Benjamin Pavard, Joao Cancelo and Alphonso Davies.
The national player feels criticized too often and sometimes unjustly. “Sometimes, of course, I find it a bit too blatant,” said Gnabry after beating Augsburg on Sky. “But I can’t resist every comment or statement that comes on TV right now. It’s a bit part of the deal.”
Sané was late at the FC Bayern meeting point
Among other things, Gnabry had to take a lot of criticism in January for his trip to Paris for Fashion Week in the middle of an English week.
His teammate Leroy Sané had also recently been in focus after his poor performance. In addition, the 27-year-old Sané is not always punctual, he was late this week at the team’s meeting point before training at the club headquarters on Säbener Straße.
Because of these incidents, it was recently discussed whether there was a discipline problem at Bayern. Until the derby last Saturday, Gnabry was only on the bench in four of the five previous competitive games, Sané even four times in a row. The two became symbols of Bayern’s mixed start to the second half of the season.
When asked if he felt unfairly treated, Gnabry said in the remarkable television interview: “Difficult to say. I think at some point it will be enough. When two people are blamed for a show, maybe that doesn’t make the greatest sense to me.”
As an athlete you have to be able to deal with it. However, it is not always nice to hear criticism directed at you personally or at a teammate.
“You have to highlight the guys today who haven’t played from the start recently,” said midfield boss Joshua Kimmich. “They played an outstanding game across the board. Joao Cancelo in particular has played a top game. But Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sané also played a great game.”
The two would have done the team a lot of good after the exhausting game against Paris and were the key to Kimmich’s victory. “They had to listen to a lot from the media world, sometimes without justification,” said Kimmich about the past few weeks.
Sky expert Dietmar Hamann, who once played for FC Bayern and the national team, praised Gnabry for his statements: “Great interview. That shows how he has developed.” Hamann also said: “He has already overcome a lot of resistance in his career.”
Nagelsmann had already protected Gnabry and Sané before the game. As before, both are “decision-makers in important moments”, according to the coach. “I want to see that they have this trust, even if a lot of things are written around them that are not super pleasant for both of them.” Nagelsmann continues: “Where they are not always free from guilt, but not guilty either. They just have certain traits. And that’s just as well.”
It is important “that as a coach, but also as a teammate, you accept and respect the characteristics,” says the 35-year-old. “There are just different characters. You have to draw out the strengths of every player.” Sané, for example, polarizes, “that’s how it is. Either you can deal with it and work with it. Or he no longer plays at Bayern Munich. But I want him to play at Bayern Munich because he has exceptional skills.”
That’s why he accepts that “and always tries to support him. I try to show him what it takes that he doesn’t offend so much with certain things,” said Nagelsmann.
At the same time, however, the trainer expects “characters like Sané and Gnabry to tip the scales when it matters – and that they don’t streamline their boots like everyone else”.
