Does Lewy DFB coach fall into crisis?
Now Flick is also threatened by the goal machine Lewandowski
06/15/2023, 5:10 p.m
Most recently, the DFB team conceded three goals against Ukraine, who are without a top striker. One of the best attackers in the world awaits the holey defense on Friday. With his goals, Robert Lewandowski could send his former Bayern coach Hansi Flick into a deep crisis.
His best time at Bayern? Robert Lewandowski had that back then, “while Hansi was a coach in Munich,” he said recently. On Friday, Poland’s star striker will now face Hansi as an opponent, and national coach Flick. And it cannot be ruled out that it will be a pretty nice 90 minutes for Lewandowski.
After all, the defense of the German national team is the problem child of the football nation, and now Lewandowski is also coming. Antonio Rüdiger and Co. recently conceded three goals against Ukraine on Friday (8.45 p.m./ARD and in the live ticker on ntv.de) you’ll be up against a real world-class striker. And he doesn’t want to show much consideration for his old colleagues.
“There will be a lot of emotions, not only sporting ones but also private ones,” said the man from FC Barcelona, who brought the treble to Munich in 2020 with national players like Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka. In this “prestigious” game, however, the emotions should now “be pushed aside”.
National coach Santos gives Germany little hope
So it could get tricky, you know that in the German squad. “Lewy is one of the world’s best strikers we have in our time. It’s clear that he’s extremely dangerous,” said Jonas Hofmann. Lewandowski not only knows his colleagues from the Munich days, in the Bundesliga he had the opportunity to play numerous duels with the DFB players, and in the Bundesliga he also set one goal record after the other.
The meeting with Poland’s exceptional striker is, despite all the explosiveness, also an opportunity, and Hofmann is not the only one who sees it that way. “Especially in situations like this, where it seems like the team should be a little concerned, it’s fun to show that you can keep a clean sheet, especially against one of the world’s best strikers,” he said.
So far, however, the DFB team has not proven in 22 games under Flick that they can keep a clean sheet against well-known offensive lines. Poland’s national coach Fernando Santos also predicts “a difficult task” for Germany. The Portuguese is “not enthusiastic” about this encounter because it disturbs his preparation for the upcoming European Championship qualifier against Moldova. However, Santos and his team want to take the game at Warsaw’s National Stadium very seriously. He hates losing, the coach said. And unfortunately that also applies to Robert Lewandowski.