On Wednesday evening, a tall man with an FC Bayern shirt was standing in front of the television camera in the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, whom you can hardly hear or see otherwise.

“Of course you're a bit tense,” said coach Dino Toppmöller, who is 1.90 meters tall and has been working in Munich as an assistant to Julian Nagelsmann since this summer.

Because his boss had to stay in the hotel that evening because of a flu-like infection, Toppmöller, the first representative, could be heard and seen in the DAZN interview before kick-off.

There he spoke about the game against Benfica Lisbon - and about Nagelsmann: “The boys are well prepared, Julian did that himself yesterday.

We'll be in touch briefly at halftime. "

Christopher Meltzer

Sports correspondent in Munich.

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On the third day of the Champions League preliminary round, FC Bayern won even without their leader on the sidelines. The German champions won 4-0 in Lisbon - and are now leading Group E by five points. In the 70th minute, Leroy Sané converted a free kick with a spectacular shot. It was followed by late goals from Everton (own goal), Robert Lewandowski and Sané. In terms of performance, there were too many. But that's the way it is with Bayern and the Estádio da Luz: It just works.

It has now been 14 months since the team from Munich won the most demanding football competition in Europe there. In August 2020, the first summer of the pandemic, she played herself into a frenzy in the champions' final tournament. They successively eliminated FC Barcelona (8: 2), Olympique Lyon (3: 0) and in the final Paris Saint-Germain (1: 0). The trainer: Hansi Flick. But Julian Nagelsmann also drew attention to himself at the time in Lisbon. He led the underdog Leipzig to the semi-finals, where, as he said this week, he experienced an “absolutely shitty” game against Paris. Final score: 0: 3. Now he wants to go back to the semi-finals with his new club, at least - even if he certainly imagined the stopover in Lisbon differently.

From his hotel room, Nagelsmann, who, according to Toppmöller, was connected to the analysts in the coaching team from kick-off, was able to see on Wednesday evening how the formidable Leroy Sané escaped the defenders for the first time in the fifth minute. He sprinted with the ball that Thomas Müller had lifted over the defense towards Odysseas Vlachodimos, the Greek-German goalkeeper of Benfica. Sané just missed the goal. And one thing can already be revealed: it wasn't the last time that Vlachodimos had to deal with Sané.

In the next few minutes it became clear why the away game in Lisbon was classified as the greatest challenge for Bayern in the group stage. FC Barcelona recently lost 3-0 there - even if that shouldn't be overestimated in autumn 2021. That evening, the Lisbon team countered in their own stadium. Once it worked particularly well in the first half. Center-back Dayot Upamecano lost a tackle, leaving Darwin, the Uruguayan striker, with space. He then shook off Niklas Süle, Bayern's second central defender. His shot did not land in the goal because Manuel Neuer parried spectacularly. And that too can already be revealed: It wasn't the last time that Neuer had to parry spectacularly in his 100th Champions League game for Munich.

That was a difference to the so-called top game in the Bundesliga against Leverkusen.

Another was the formation of Bayern.

This changed Nagelsmann in three positions.

For Serge Gnabry (bank), Leon Goretzka (flu) and Alphonso Davies (thigh problems) he selected Kingsley Coman, Marcel Sabitzer and Benjamin Pavard.

It was above all Coman, the goalscorer of the 2020 final, who stood out in his first starting eleven since his heart operation.

He crossed once to Lewandowski (9th) and shot once from an acute angle himself (39th).

But Vlachodimos had his fingers in the game twice.

And when the ball was in goal after Coman's cross and Lewandowski's acceptance in the 42nd minute, the referee intervened.

Rightly.

Because Lewandowski had brought the ball with his arm over the line.

In the second half there was an offside goal (Thomas Müller, 52nd) and another spectacular save (Manueler Neuer against Pedro Goncalves, 55th).

Suddenly the Portuguese were close to the first goal - and then had to pocket four more.

It started with a free kick from Leroy Sané, the player of the game.

He presented Lewandowski's 3-0 (82nd) ​​and scored the 4-0 himself (84th).

There was only one goal he was not directly involved in: the 2-0, an own goal by Everton.