FC Bayern wins 7-1 against Salzburg: A flawless answer – sport

Julian Nagelsmann has now been Bayern Munich’s coach for eight months, but on Tuesday evening this time seemed like a prologue. Floodlights, the Champions League anthem, 25,000 spectators in the arena in Munich and a game that decided the success of his first season. That was the story up until kick-off.

Half an hour later, Nagelsmann ran a small semicircle in front of his bench, jumped into the air, clenched his fists, tensed his muscles, a little like Cristiano Ronaldo. He has cheered many a time, possibly in his particularly happy and confident moments. In any case, it was noticed in a 5-1 win in Leverkusen in October, where the score was 5-0 at half-time. It was then a demonstration of the offensive power of Munich. Well, in the Champions League Round of 16 against Salzburg, it was 4-0 after 31 minutes. In the end it was 7:1.

“It was a statement and an exclamation mark,” said captain Manuel Neuer on the Amazon Prime Video streaming service. “We are very happy with the performance.” Nagelsmann said: “It was a very, very good game. When we have that energy, we’re hard to stop.”

A 1-1 draw in the first leg in Austria sounded like an exciting second leg. However, it was a completely safe victory that saw FC Bayern into the quarter-finals. And it was a kind of contrast program to the previous weeks. Because unlike last time, it was not about the shaky Munich defense, but about the extremely capable offensive. In particular, it was about the world footballer Robert Lewandowski, who scored a hat trick that the stadium announcer Stephan Lehmann called “flawless” according to the old sports show tradition: The 1-0 in the twelfth minute, the 2-0 in the 21st minute, the 3 :0 in the 23rd minute. The other Munich goals were scored by Serge Gnabry to make it 4-0 (31st), Thomas Müller to make it 5-0 (54th) and 6-1 (83rd) and Leroy Sané (86th).

Even Nagelsmann’s line-up is a statement

Lewandowski had not been involved in a Munich goal for two games, which is like an eternity for him. Now all he needed was a single unstoppable movement to set the game in the desired direction. He turned the ball after a Kingsley Coman cross, and it went much too fast for his opponent Maximilian Wöber: The Austrian fouled, Lewandowski fell, converted the penalty himself – and did it almost exactly the same eight minutes later.

Again he was fouled by Wöber, again he hit from the point, again in the left corner. The only differences were that referee Clement Turpin had to move the scene of the crime to the penalty area with the help of the video assistant and this time Lewandowski ran to the left corner flag to celebrate.

The Munich team had 72 percent possession of the ball in the first half, and at times their game resembled a demonstration of their offensive power. And at the latest when Lewandowski made his hat trick perfect in the 23rd minute by using a misunderstanding between the pitiful Wöber and Salzburg goalkeeper Philipp Köhn after a nice pass from Müller, a few shaky minutes at the beginning were forgotten again. Because Salzburg had wasted two pretty good chances, free shots in the penalty area.

The form in which Munich had started this game was controversial. Nagelsmann had to change his defensive formation again against Salzburg, and that for a given reason. It was not the first time this season that Dayot Upamecano made an almost game-winning error in the 1-1 draw against Leverkusen last weekend. Against Salzburg, the 42 million euro purchase was initially on the bench. Incidentally, the board members who signed him were not in the stadium: Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic were absent due to positive corona tests.

This time there are no full-backs on the wings, but two attackers

The three central defenders Lucas Hernández, Niklas Süle and Benjamin Pavard played in defense from the start. The biggest difference to the previous weeks was on the defensive, however, that national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was back in goal after knee surgery. In addition, Nagelsmann’s line-up was above all a statement that FC Bayern 2022 is an offensive team: No full-backs played on the wings, but attackers Kingsley Coman and Gnabry. Sané, who was often outside at the beginning, was also in the starting XI. The coach left none of his offensive artists out.

In the second half, Nagelsmann was still screaming his instructions on the lawn, but it could only be a matter of cosmetic corrections. Jamal Musiala, who had to help out as a six next to Joshua Kimmich in the absence of the injured Leon Goretzka and Corentin Tolisso, found his way better and better, dribbled, combined with Lewandowski and Müller.

Nagelsmann made defensive changes, brought on right-back Bouna Sarr at the break, followed by Upamecano after an hour and shortly afterwards even 19-year-old Tanguy Nianzou for central defence. But despite the 1:5 by Maurits Kjaergaard, the game remained one of stepping over and pirouettes, a show of the offensive. The form in which Bayern ended this game was no longer a controversial one. But one in which a second title in addition to the championship can continue to be one of the ambitions.