By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) — Since Carlo Ancelotti and Hansi Flick, Paris Saint-Germain has been a club of destiny for Bayern Munich coaches.
While Italian Ancelotti lost his job after a 3-0 defeat by PSG in September 2017 in the Parc de Prince, Flick entered the Bayern’s history books by winning the 2020 UEFA Champions League final in Lisbon.
It is more than a bold guess that 35-year-old Julian Nagelsmann is to some extent sharing the pressure of both prominent predecessors when currently facing the French giant in the 2022-23 Champions League campaign.
International resilience leading to success traditionally has been the club leader’s yardstick when it comes to coaches.
Surviving the duels against PSG in the last-16 rounds has become a case of do-or-die for Nagelsman after chairman Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic created a feel-good oasis for the former Leipzig manager.
The coaching staff has been changed following the demands of Nagelsmann and rarely has one of Bayern’s coaches enjoyed a similar treatment.
The risky strategy to leave out the Bavarian icon Thomas Muller to create more speed up front, for the moment, paid off after Kingsley Coman scored the winning goal this Tuesday in their 1-0 win over PSG with the second leg to come on March 8.
It might be a curious fact that the Paris-born striker turned into the match-winner for the second time after having scored the winner in the 2020 final.
“I am extremely happy about the goal today but didn’t celebrate because I am born in Paris. But now we are on a good way, but things are not done,” the French international said after being rewarded as the man of the match.
Nagelsmann passed his first exam but still needs to kick the can down the road.
Last season’s painful quarterfinal defeat against underdog Villareal is floating over the Bayern coach like a dark cloud.
Being eliminated by Paris in the aggregate of two games might not lead to an immediate dismissal of Nagelsmann, but his era is expected to end by the end of the 2022-23 season.
Paris has lost its second game on home soil against Bayern since April 2020 and doors are open for the reigning German Champion and its coach to proceed to the next round.
The second leg won’t be a piece of cake and Bayern missed to create a more comfortable situation by only scoring once.
“We have done the first step, the second one has to follow,” Nagelsmann said adding: “We can’t lean back, but it seems we are slightly ahead for the moment.”
Struggling after the national league re-start after a long winter break due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Nagelsmann is well advised to increase his team’s efficiency.
Statistics say the Bavarians’ goal-per-game record has dropped by 25 percent. Despite the decrease, it might have become an advantage having enjoyed a longer recovery break than the French opponent after the tournament in Qatar.
Additionally positive for Nagelsmann seems the performance of Yann Sommer, who joined Bayern after the injury of Manuel Neuer.
Coming with Sommer’s engagement, Nagelsmann replaced the 2014 World Champions’ familiar goalkeeper coach Toni Tapalovic and initiated the signing of Michael Rechner, who is seen as one of his close confidants.
Source(s): Xinhua