Tuesday, August 24, 2021
FC Bayern spares long-term players
In the cup it has to work without Lewandowski
Without the top scorer, without the captain: Julian Nagelsmann is slimming his squad before his first cup game with FC Bayern. Manuel Neuer is missing injured, Robert Lewandowski and Leon Goretzka should take it easy. Will that make Bremer SV happy?
Captain Manuel Neuer, striker Robert Lewandowski and midfielder Leon Goretzka are given a break at Bayern Munich for the first round match in the DFB Cup. “The foot reacted a little after the game, but that was to be expected, that was nothing special or surprising,” said coach Julian Nagelsmann about goalkeeper Neuer, for whom Sven Ulreich is available.
The Bayern captain sustained a capsule injury to his right ankle while winning the Supercup in Dortmund a week ago and temporarily stopped training. In the Bundesliga, the 35-year-old was back in goal in the 3-2 win against 1. FC Köln.
In the cup game on Wednesday (8.15 p.m. / Sport 1, Sky and in the ntv.de live ticker) Lewandowski is also spared at the fifth division soccer club Bremer SV. The 33-year-old striker should instead train in Munich as well as national player Goretzka.
“Based on the experience we have with the abundance of games that will also be waiting for him at Hansi if everything goes normally,” said Nagelsmann, referring to the stress from the international matches under national coach Hansi Flick from next week .
The two French Lucas Hernández and Kingsley Coman have meanwhile returned to training, but are not an option for the cup game. Coman could be in the Bundesliga home game against Hertha BSC on Saturday (6.30 p.m. / Sky and in the ntv.de ticker) return again, Hernandez “more likely after the international break”, as Nagelsmann explained.
Nagelsmann sees a “stable construct” of his team against an outsider who sees the game as the “game of the century”, even in spite of the missing. “From their point of view, I can absolutely understand that, game of the century, that is also logical,” said Nagelsmann. “The trophy is always special when lower-class clubs play against higher-class ones, and of course a tad special when you play against Bayern Munich. In the end, it’s about we want and have to win the game.”
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