Choupo-Moting invites you to dance after his dream goal against Inter. And FC Bayern is happy about a flawless Champions League group stage. Nagelsmann wants to “transport this spirit”.
After the flawless Champions League group stage, Julian Nagelsmann was happy about a leap in his Bayern Munich development. “We’ve taken a big step towards playing very maturely. We don’t always have to have the urge to play everything forward. We’ve also become much, much more secure with the ball in our own third,” said the Munich coach after the second: 0 (1-0) against Inter Milan, which rounded off an 18-point group stage in Munich in front of the happy Bayern fans.
The German record champions are the first club in Europe’s premier class to win a six-game preliminary round for the third time. In the current Champions League season, no other club can boast this top yield.
Accurate Choupo-Moting
Of course, the Munich team want to take this momentum with them into the round of 16, with striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting still scoring. “We also played a very good group phase last year and then not so good a knockout round. So we have to do a few steps differently than last year,” remarked Nagelsmann. “But I’m in good spirits that we can transport the spirit that prevails in the group into the new year.”
Bayern, who surprisingly failed in the quarter-finals last season at the hands of supposed lightweight FC Villarreal, will find out their opponents in the round of 16 next Monday at the draw at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon.
Choupo-Moting also wants to save momentum over the World Cup in Qatar into the new year and with it the hot Champions League phase. In front of 75,000 spectators in the Allianz Arena, after Benjamin Pavard’s opening goal (32nd minute), he finished with a dream goal in the corner (72nd). “He has a very good run, it was a wonderful goal, he can continue like this,” said Nagelsmann.
“And awesome goal”
Choupo-Moting himself dared to dance with the substitute Alphonso Davies, who is also the cabin DJ of the Munich team, after his remarkable goal. “I plucked up courage and thought I’d shoot from afar – and great goal,” said Choupo-Moting. “I know what I can do and I know that I can help the team a lot with my qualities. It’s been going great in the last few weeks.”
Even with a larger rotation, FC Bayern could not be shaken out of its flow without a few injured and partially rested stars. “We had a few changes in the team and therefore wanted to show that no matter what we change, we have enough quality on the pitch that we can beat anyone,” emphasized Choupo-Moting after Munich’s seventh competitive win in a row.
National player Robin Gosens, who deservedly lost with Inter, admitted after the deserved defeat: “That’s absolutely top level what Bayern Munich played again.” Munich’s sports director Hasan Salihamidzic saw it the same way. “It’s fun when the lads play like they have in the last few weeks,” he said.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
