Champions League round of 16
“A hot dance”: Company has to crack tactics fox Alonso
It is the new German Clásico. Bayern and Bayer meet for the fourth time this season. This time in the premier class. And it’s about much more than the next round.
Every soccer lover in Germany is looking forward to this sparkling strength with international flair. Bavaria against Bayer is the new German Clásico. And in the highly emotional struggle for the Champions League quarter-finals there are not only large individual comparisons between the coaches Vincent Kompany and Xabi Alonso, the magicians Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz or the team strategists Joshua Kimmich and Granit Xhaka.
No, especially for FC Bayern, the round of 16 Dahoam is much more concerned than the important move into the next co-round. On Wednesday (9:00 p.m./DAZN) in the sold -out Allianz Arena and six days later, the second leg in Leverkusen is about nothing less than the national supremacy.
It’s about status, prestige, about old bills – and the season success. An early farewell to the royal class on May 31 would be a Bavarian strike for Bayern that would have a long time.
Müller: “Of course it’s emotionally special”
“It will definitely be a hot dance,” predicts Thomas Müller for the first German royal class duel since the 2-1 triumph of Bavaria in the historic Wembley final 2013 against Borussia Dortmund. And the original Bavarian Müller confesses: “Of course it is emotionally special to compete against our strongest national opponents on the very big stage.”
It stinks to Munich how badly the once eternal second from the Rhineland now shakes on the Bayern-Nimbus as a permanent number one. 1: 2, 2: 2, 0: 3, 1: 1, 0: 1, 0: 0 – None of the last six games against Bayer with coaching mastermind Xabi Alonso won. And as with the goalless league draw in Leverkusen recently, the Munich team of Alonso’s master ensemble has never been dominated in Leverkusen. All of this works with the record champion.
Company: “Beautiful rivalry”
“It is burning, we want to play these games,” said Kompany. Can the Bayern coach in the Saisonduellen four and five with Leverkusen first cut out and defeat the big Alonso with Leverkusen? “It’s a nice rivalry now,” says Kompany to the relationship status of Bavaria and Bayer.
“The last six games don’t matter. We want to show again that we can fight FC Bayern,” said the clever tactician and deep forklift Alonso. “We stay cool,” assured the former Bayern professional, which the old Bayern-Granden Uli Hoeneß and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge wanted so much in their coaching chair after the last season.
What is alonso off this time?
What is Bayern-Schreck Alonso off this time? Does he form a Bayer elf without his top scorer Patrik Schick? Does he let it press very high again? Or are the guests wait cleverly, in the knowledge of the second leg at home?
“Five bad minutes – and you are gone,” warned Alonso. Bayern captain Manuel Neuer commented similarly: “You don’t have to decide everything in one game. You have to be intelligent, keep a cool head.”
The goalkeeper knows what he is talking about. His red card was the crux of the Bavarian DFB Cup-Ko against Leverkusen in early December. In the 0: 1, the superior Munich also lacked Harry Kane. The striker is there this time. And also midfield chief Kimmich should be back on the pitch after the first missed seasonal game in the 3-1 in Stuttgart due to a tendon irritation in the thigh.
Bayer leader Xhaka: “We are stable”
“We have now had two outstanding games. We have grown as a team,” Bavaria’s sports director Max Eberl, trumpeted after the victories against Frankfurt (4-0) and in Stuttgart. Bayern are a power in particular at home, and have been undefeated in 21 royal classes for four years. “We are stable enough to annoy Bavaria,” says Bayer strategist Xhaka.
If the Königsklassen-Aus against Bayer and thus the early dream of the final Dahoam on Top came for the Munich-based company, even the eight-point lead in the Bundesliga on the master would no longer be a seal of approval that could compensate for this failure.
It would provoke larger Munich reactions in the squad conversion. And it should also increase Hoeneß ‘longing for a Wirtz transfer. The old bosses have verbally intensified the advertising around Leverkusen’s young star in front of Wirtz in a remarkable way.
Florian Wirtz is the best
“Florian Wirtz is the best player in Germany for me,” said ex-Bayern boss Rummenigge in an interview with the Munich “evening newspaper”. And that despite Musiala, which is supposed to be Bavaria’s face of the future. Who is the best on the pitch in the round of 16? Musiala? Wirtz? And Bavaria or Bayer?
dpa
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
