Julian Nagelsmann often walks around the world with a happy smile, but when it comes to working with his teams, the new coach of FC Bayern Munich is also a very critical person.
And so he left Mönchengladbach late on Friday evening after a magical soccer game with mixed feelings.
His team opened the new Bundesliga season at 1-1 in Mönchengladbach with a "very, very entertaining and varied game," he said. People outside in the stadium were still singing and celebrating with the joy of the stadium. "But," Nagelsmann continued, "it is usually not an ideal sign for both coaches when things go back and forth like this."
The record champions have not yet played perfect Nagelsmann football, which nobody could have expected after the few days of training with the full squad.
In return, two football teams with a courageous and risk-taking attitude met each other and in such a case a lack of perfection usually adds to the entertainment value.
The new Gladbach trainer raved about a “super ride”, captain Lars Stindl had seen “fireworks” and said: “From the running work, from the attitude, from the audience, it was finally another really awesome, successful evening at Borussia-Park . "
"Chances for four or five goals"
The new season opened in front of 22,925 spectators with a worthy ceremony, during which two highly interesting teams each presented themselves with a new coach. Initially, the determined Gladbachers were better and took the lead thanks to Alassane Pleá (10th). His team was "not as sharp as from the 16th, 17th minute," said Nagelsmann. Shortly before the break, Bayern equalized, were better after the break, before Borussia was more dangerous in the final phase. "That was a well-deserved draw," said Gladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who had become the hero of the evening.
Measured against the great chances, this duel could even have been a spectacle for the history books, "both had the chance to score four or five goals," said Nagelsmann. But the attackers wasted too many opportunities, and Sommer emerged victorious from a wild private duel with Robert Lewandowski. The Munich striker only managed to make it 1-1 (42nd), and Sommer stood in the way in a number of other situations. The Swiss seemed to succeed in everything, not only Gladbach's trainer Adi Hütter thought his goalkeeper was “outstanding”.
In both teams, however, there is room for improvement in the defensive, which both teams viewed critically last year. "It is clear that we want to improve there," said Nagelsmann. The coordination between central defenders Dayot Upamecano and Niklas Süle, as well as right-back Josip Stanisic, was not just optimal when conceding a goal. In the end, Bayern even threatened defeat. In two penalty area duels between Gladbach's wildly determined Marcus Thuram and the new Munich defender Upamecano, the champions were lucky that no penalties were imposed.
The Gladbach attacker had fallen in each case. On one scene, Leon Goretzka said that as a Munich resident he “couldn't have complained when the penalty kick was called”, and Hütter thought the other situation was “almost one hundred percent”. But “even more hundred percent” is not crystal clear. Referee Marco Fritz did not whistle, and his assistants in the Cologne basement also refused to intervene, Hütter was so angry that he saw a yellow card.
The anger in Mönchengladbach is understandable, for the sense of justice it would have been good if Fritz had awarded at least one of the penalties. The fact that the video assistants did not intervene is a welcome signal for the rest of the season. Actually, since their first day at work, the referees in front of the screen should only intervene in the case of the famous "crystal clear mistakes" and not "improve" any bad but somehow justifiable decisions, as Jochen Drees, the head of the video assistants once said. Unfortunately, they permanently neglected this resolution and thus contributed a lot to the confusion that led to another shit storm on social media after the game.
That evening, a penalty would have been the better option, especially in the 81st minute. The easy hold on the upper body, as it often happens in the penalty area, and the also light contact on the foot resulted in an action that can trigger a fall. But not a completely unambiguous uniqueness. Should the gentlemen in the Cologne basement consistently keep still in such cases, the VAR system could finally function at the level that was desired from the start: discreetly and as a safety net for the very dramatic mistakes.