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Robert Lewandowski's opening goal was not enough against Gladbach
Photo: Michael Weber IMAGEPOWER / imago images / Michael Weber
In the late evening, Julian Nagelsmann spoke wearily about the 27th minute. About the turning point of the game. Via the Gladbach equalization gate. By then, his team had the game under control, they were in the front with Robert Lewandowski's goal and, as the Bayern coach noted, "should have gone a bit higher." Instead, the guests came through Florian Neuhaus suddenly to 1: 1. Simply that way. Out of nowhere. Nagelsmann complained that Stefan Lainer's cross before was "an incredibly weak cross", "we could have clarified that easily."
But that was exactly what this very bizarre evening in the deserted and snow-covered Munich football arena was.
Madness.
A farce.
A antics game that the Gladbachers, also battered by four Corona failures, won 2: 1.
The magic that the soccer teacher Nagelsmann had felt before that had quickly evaporated: The appeal of 13 failures - nine of them corona infected - to get the right emergency starting eleven plus an ultimately grotesque makeshift bench on which to sit Had not accumulated a single minute of experience in the Bundesliga.
In the end, Bayern was angry about having given away such a game and, according to Nagelsmann, "undeservedly lost".
Deep down there was certainly still anger about the DFL, which had the game held despite the request from sports director Hasan Salihamidžić on postponement. Although everything ran according to the rules and statutes: You could hear the grumbling and grumbling about it at Oliver Kahn and also at Thomas Müller between the lines. And yet the Bayern bosses should be angry above all with themselves. You should ask yourself whether the circumstances of this absurd evening and the defeat did not bring the club into an awkward position once again by failure. Whether they really reach their players.
This could already be seen in the tough vaccination debate, which lasted for weeks, in the fall, when the public learned that Joshua Kimmich and four other professionals had refused a Covid vaccination. Like a prayer wheel, the triumvirate around President Herbert Hainer, CEO Kahn and sports director Salihamidžić repeated the narrative that the players cannot be forced to do so, after all, there is no compulsory vaccination in society as a whole.
That was and is also correct, but it was amazing how quickly other Bundesliga clubs such as 1. FC Köln and FC Augsburg managed to report a 100 percent vaccination rate in their squad.
And how difficult it was at the same time for the Bavarians, who are otherwise so strong in leadership, to convince their own players of the positive effects of immunization: From an individual point of view because of their own health, from the perspective of the club, to achieve sporting success because of the risk of weeks of failures not endangering infected players.
Power word?
Nothing
Just as it happened when the unvaccinated Kimmich, Serge Gnabry, Jamal Musiala and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Mouting couldn't play for a long time because of their corona disease or quarantine. The subject seemed to be settled when Kimmich, Gnabry and Musiala finally agreed to be vaccinated. But then came the next problem: the Christmas holidays. The holiday in which nine FC Bayern professionals were infected with the virus. Among other things in Mexico, in Dubai, in the Maldives. On Friday, Kahn and Salihamidžić spoke only succinctly of the “well-deserved vacation” that their players simply wanted to enjoy over the holidays around the world. At the end of the preliminary round, in view of the rapid global spread of the Omikron variant at the time, those responsible would have a word of power,be able to issue a travel warning intended by the club. But there was probably nothing to be heard of.
Instead: a well-deserved vacation.
Sounded almost like the fall when you didn't want to press anyone to get a vaccination - and this time you didn't want to force anyone to go on vacation at home.
On the east bank of the Tegernsee.
In Munich.
Somewhere in beautiful Upper Bavaria.
Prescribing travel destinations for your professionals, of course, they will not be able to do that.
And yet, looking back at the past few weeks at board level, you will have to ask yourself whether your announcements will at least have to be much clearer than before.
As much as they like to see themselves as alpha figures at Bayern, as managers and doers, they seem more hesitant when dealing with the players internally.
Only three players return
At first glance, it may seem positive that the currently infected players should certainly recover and be able to play with the start of the knockout phase in the Champions League in mid-February. On the other hand, nobody knows what possible long-term consequences the disease could have. Infiltrations in the lungs of Kimmich, for example, were discovered after his infection. On Friday he made his first game in eight weeks. After an hour he was at the end of his life when there was "no more juice in the tank," as coach Nagelsmann said. How it will stabilize in the coming weeks remains one of the many interesting questions. And also who will come back and when. Next week at the away game in Cologne only Kingsley Coman, Corentin Tolisso and Omar Richards are sure to join them again.After returning to the old team strength, that doesn't sound like that.
It might be exciting up there in the second half of the season.