Before leaving istanbul for the bundesliga summit in munich, julian nagelsmann predicted that his team from leipzig would win the game.
"Our games in munich so far have been 0:3, 0:2, 0:1, 0:0. If you take that to its logical conclusion, then it could be that we win there," said the 33-year-old about the next tough test on saturday (18.30 o’clock/sky). The nerve-wracking 4:3 at basaksehir in istanbul in the champions league had long since been forgotten.
Physically it’s getting close to the limit, but the success at the turkish champions makes RB leipzig forget all the pain. The mental factor will probably also be decisive for bayern. "But we are in a good shape. We’re second in the league, on course for the champions league – so we have the confidence," said captain marcel sabitzer. A success in munich would also release further strength for tuesday, when the team will face manchester united for a place in the eighth finals of the champions league.
That nothing is impossible was seen in istanbul. Konig transfer alexander sorloth finally delivered what leipzig had transferred 20 million euros for in the summer: important goals. "The goal takes a lot of pressure off me. Now I can concentrate on my game and my development," said the norwegian. Especially as a winning goal in the third minute of stoppage time gave him extra energy.
Nagelsmann agrees. "It’s all uphill from here, that’s how it usually is with strikers," said the coach. A few stones fell from the hearts of the whole team at the goal. Understandable, after all, sorloth had just missed a penalty against promoted bielefeld on saturday and aggravated his goal crisis.
Because bayern are now an immensely different caliber, RB must tighten up. This applies both to the attack, which missed a number of the best chances in istanbul, and to the defense, which sometimes acted naively in turkey. "We have to turn that off," sabitzer emphasized. "Because otherwise it will be difficult against better opponents."
And so nagelsmann began to educate his defenders already in the dressing room of the fatih-terim stadium. He has explained to them two variants of defense. Once the one to win the ball and once the one to defend the goal. In the latter in particular, his young central defenders were "far too greedy, far too aggressive," according to nagelsmann.
It remains to be seen whether nagelsmann will go all out in terms of personnel in munich, despite all the mathematical logic. He had already emphasized that even in the event of a defeat, it would still be possible to achieve all the goals in the league. Three days later, however, a victory against manchester is mandatory in the kings class.