Bloody bankruptcy in Villarreal
Goretzka’s cut after “brutal use of elbows”
04/07/2022, 3:15 p.m
FC Bayern return from the Champions League game at FC Villarreal with two black eyes: One belongs to Leon Goretzka, the second carries away the team, which is still very well served with the narrow 0: 1. Coach Julian Nagelsmann judges the bloody scene with Goretzka as “brutal”.
After all, the Bavarians escaped the next change breakdown in the collective failure in Villarreal. When Leon Goretzka wanted to storm back onto the field in added time after treating a bleeding wound, everyone in front of the Munich bench gesticulated wildly four days after Freiburg made the mistake. Coach Julian Nagelsmann reacted immediately and replaced Marc Roca while the bleeding Goretzka was being treated while he was lying on the ground. Goretzka was not allowed to return to the field.
In a header, he suffered “a small cut” and a “black eye”, as Nagelsmann later explained. Villarreal’s Pau Torres hit Munich in the face with full force. Nagelsmann spoke of a “brutal use of elbows”, but did not want to rate the action as a “crystal-clear penalty” because “Leon comes from behind”. Pau probably hadn’t seen Goretzka. “I’m not complaining now,” Nagelsmann said about the missed whistle.
After all: Goretzka was probably not seriously injured. He should be available in the second leg and will certainly start then. Nagelsmann wants to “carefully build up” the dynamic midfielder after a long break from competition due to knee problems: “We can’t chase him in every three days after four months.”
FC Bayern got away with two black eyes after a very weak game: In addition to Goretzka’s injury, the narrow 1-0 defeat was also extremely light and gives hope to turn the deficit in the second leg. “I have confidence in our quality. Everyone now knows what it’s all about,” said captain Joshua Kimmich with a mixture of defiance and faith: “We’re able to score two or three goals in every game.”
If the first away defeat in the Champions League is not reversed after more than four and a half years, FC Bayern will face their second quarter-final defeat in a row. It would be the sixth elimination against a Spanish team since 2014, only in 2021 during this period did PSG fail against an opponent from outside Spain.