Coach Julian Nagelsmann is already keeping an eye on the big knockout game in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain in the Bundesliga game between FC Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart. For the coach, the Bundesliga game is a tightrope walk.
It’s against Silas and Chris Führich – but Julian Nagelsmann’s thoughts have long been about Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi before the annoying mandatory task in Stuttgart. The Champions League cracker against Paris St. Germain next Wednesday (9 p.m. on DAZN and in the live ticker on ntv.de) currently outshines everything at FC Bayern. “VfB is important now. It makes little sense to slow down. We have nothing to give away,” said the coach of the record champions on Friday. But he also immediately made a connection to the round of 16 second leg against the PSG star ensemble.
“We already have an idea how we want to do it against PSG. We plan to test parts against VfB and add a few things,” said Nagelsmann. After the VfB game on Saturday (6.30 p.m. / Sky) you don’t have “infinite time”. That’s why he announced “not to rotate much”. Playing for Paris is the order of the day. Especially since the premier class summit will be of “enormous importance” for the evaluation of the season, as Nagelsmann emphasized. “It’s always a balancing act. Are you getting ready for PSG? It’s clear that next week’s game is an incredibly important one.”
The 35-year-old still has to make a few tricky decisions by Wednesday, especially when it comes to positions in defence. Benjamin Pavard said Nagelsmann was in “extremely good form”, but the Frenchman is suspended against Paris. “We have to win a Bundesliga game. If you look at it in isolation, you really have to let him play. But you also rob a player who could play on Wednesday of the chance to get into rhythm,” said Nagelsmann. Dayot Upamecano, for example, is available again in defense after being suspended from red.
Before the final training, it was still uncertain whether Leroy Sané would be part of the squad in Stuttgart. The national player has a small capsule injury on the ankle. “For the first time in a long time we have to remove players from the squad,” said Nagelsmann, but it was “good to have almost all players back on board in the hot phase”. He expects VfB, who are threatened with relegation, to be “typical for Bruno Labbadia. They will work and run a lot”. The VfB coach will “make hell hot” for his team, added Nagelsmann with a smile: “That’s why we have to make hell hot for ourselves.”
Especially since another setback would come at the wrong time in view of the tight title race. “Now,” stressed CEO Oliver Kahn, “we can no longer afford to slip up.” FC Bayern must “stay on track and deliver in the next few weeks – every three days,” Thomas Müller demanded before the VfB game. But Müller is already looking ahead. “It’s a unique situation to have the freshly crowned first and second place in the world footballer’s election in attack,” wrote the 33-year-old in his newsletter in reference to superstars Mbappe and Messi.
After the 1-0 win in the first leg, Müller sees Bayern “definitely at an advantage.
