It was to them that the honor of opening the ball fell. Three hours before Christophe Galtier and Marco Verratti showed up in the Allianz Arena conference room, Julian Nagelsmann and Thomas Müller launched the Champions League round of 16 second leg against PSG on Wednesday evening. A shock that the Bayern Munich coach already knows is very tight but plans to win in particular thanks to flaws that he intends to exploit in the Parisian rearguard,
Does the absence of Neymar combined with the presence of Mbappé at the kick-off change anything in your plans?
JULIAN NAGELSMANN. It changes something compared to the very high pressing. With Neymar and Mbappé they were able to create a goal situation in the first leg which was refused for offside. We know they need time to build. There, with Messi playing between the lines and a striker running at 37 km / h, we will have to make sure to cut their passing circuit. You will have to be patient and not too aggressive if it does not work right away. We have Yann Sommer who will watch in the cage and we also have the ambition to have the ball.
Sadio Mané, who is coming back from injury, will he start?
He’s getting more and more of the rhythm he needs. But I don’t think he will play right away. Eric Choupo-Moting, who was a bit ill, also has some glitches. But it should be fine. I think Mané can give the impetus from the bench. And if we need more danger in front of goal, he can change the game.
“Mbappé, we can’t stop him every time”
How is this match a duel of coach?
This kind of match is rarely a duel between coaches. Of course, we can contribute to our success by developing a game plan that is not too complicated. But here, we are talking about two teams at the top level, with two coaches who will also give everything. I hope tomorrow I can eat a piece of the cake.
Is the PSG defense the team’s weakness?
I do not consider this sector as a weakness but it has a characteristic, a clear behavior in certain situations, which I do not want to reveal. We have some ideas for hurting them tomorrow.
Do you have the feeling that Kylian Mbappé’s entry into the first leg also had an influence on the Bayern players?
Obviously, his entry had an impact on PSG and also on us. He is one of the best strikers in the world, he is a dangerous weapon. There, he will play from the start and we are preparing for it. We can’t stop him every time because he is very strong but we are preparing to do so.
Thomas Müller said on the way that we shouldn’t do too much with Kylian Mbappé. Do you agree with him?
(He smiles) That’s all Thomas… We report a lot of things on Kylian Mbappé. It’s normal, on the way he had three opportunities. But we can’t just defend against him all the time, it’s too difficult.