Bayern versus PSG - this Champions League final promises great football. Hansi Flick praises Thomas Tuchel before the great German coaching duel. The future Bayern boss warns of Mbappé and Neymar - and counters: "We have Lewandowski, we have Gnabry, we have Neuer."
Lisbon (dpa) - The whip for the giant final of the big names against Paris Saint-Germain was the Bayern Titan.
Oliver Kahn looked to the coming, despite some questionable wobbles at the 3-0 (2-0) result of the first German-French test of strength of Bayern against the stopped favorite scare Olympique Lyon with the typical Munich Mia-san-mia attitude Sunday (9 p.m. / ZDF, Sky, DAZN), when the best football club team in Europe is chosen in the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon.
"We know, of course, that Paris is an absolute house number. But we also know our own strengths," Kahn announced on Thursday, when the Munich triple contenders were regenerating in the "Penha Longa Resort" team quarters. In the Portuguese summer it sometimes trickled from gray clouds.
The first announcement to the PSG star ensemble, formed by coach Thomas Tuchel into a collective with the offensive exceptional talents Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, was made on Wednesday evening by Lyon conqueror Serge Gnabry. After his brace, the international striker left the Estádio José Alvalade with fierce determination. "We really want to win the triple and will give everything to get the title," said the 25-year-old winger: "To be the best team in Europe is a huge incentive. We want to be it!"
August 23, 2020 should be another evening in which Bayern will write history; like in 2001 in the first premier class triumph with the penalty hero Kahn in Milan and like in the 2-1 in the German final in London against Borussia Dortmund in 2013, the year of the historic title triple under coach legend Jupp Heynckes. The new Jupp should now be called Hansi Flick, who went into this ultra-long and tricky Corona season as an assistant and is only nine months after taking over the post of head coach before his crowning glory.
"We're all happy, we're in the final," said the 55-year-old. He is looking forward to the duel with Tuchel, whose work at PSG he praises: "He's doing a really good job. I visited him once." The Paris team works very well under Tuchel's guidance.
But Flick wants to take the last and probably most difficult triple step. "We'll make sure that we regain our strength, collect one hundred percent energy and then try to win the title with a top performance against Paris," said Flick, who captain Manuel Neuer praised: "What distinguishes him is the calm just before such games, prudence. " Everyone follows Flick, everyone trusts Flick's ideas. "No matter which opponent we played against, we were well prepared and always had a plan," said Neuer.
However, Flick did not miss the fact that deficiencies occurred against Lyon that could be fatal against Paris. He complained about too many ball losses. "Sure, if we lose the ball against Paris, the mail goes through Mbappé, through Neymar. If they have a chance, then it usually bangs," warned Kahn: "We know, of course, Paris is an absolute house number." But the experienced ex-professional Kahn also referred to the special "psychological starting situation" against Lyon: "Everyone thought, oh yes, now Barcelona have cut away 8-2 - let's see how they cut Lyon away. It's not that easy! "
Whether Flick, Kahn or Neuer, everyone has confidence in their own skills, which is not behind PSG's. Ten games, ten wins, 42 goals scored, that is the top class record this season. In 2020, the double Bayern are still unbeaten. "It's not that only Paris has Mbappé and Neymar. We have Lewandowski, we have Gnabry, we have Neuer," said Kahn. Gnabry led Bayern into the sixth premier class final as a double scorer. Kahn called the solo run à la Arjen Robben from the right with a left-foot shot into the corner "world class". For him it was the goal of the year in the premier class.
On an otherwise unfortunate working day, Robert Lewandowski finally scored 3-0 - the 15th goal in the current competition for the Pole, who will turn 32 on Friday and will be able to give himself a gift in the final. And Neuer showed a world-class parade against Toko Ekambi, preventing the connecting gate after a good hour. "That would have been 2: 1, it would have really burned again", judged ex-keeper Kahn as an expert for titanic rescue acts.
The 34-year-old Neuer considers the possible triple team of 2020 to be "broadly better positioned" than the triple winners led by Robben and Ribéry in 2013. There is no such thing as a "stinky boot" in the team, according to Neuer, but all the more more extremely greedy winners.
Kahn has been very close to the team in Portugal from the start. The future CEO even gave a short address to the team at the training camp in the Algarve. He firmly believes in the completion of the "Campeões de Lisboa" coronation project. He relies on the perfect mix of experienced world champions and triple winners such as Neuer, Thomas Müller and Jérôme Boateng in combination with the players who have not yet won the Champions League. Before the final in Lisbon, whip Kahn spoke of "guys who would walk from here to Munich for the handle pot".
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