It would be an exaggeration to say that Julian Nagelsmann had to get used to the stadium routine again.

The FC Bayern coach was only gone for two weeks, in corona quarantine at home in the kitchen.

Not that much has changed in this short time.

A few more spectators are now allowed to the games, although on Tuesday only 50,000 instead of the permitted 70,000 spectators came to the Champions League game against Benfica Lisbon in the Munich arena.

And that's why the noise level was a bit higher, almost like it was before, before Corona.

It is no longer so easy to make yourself heard from the sidelines, but Nagelsmann can live with that.

"It's nicer that way," he stated.

And it is also "nicer not to have to watch the game on TV," like the four previous games.

Otherwise everything was the same when he returned - or at least most of the time.

Bayern have also won the fourth round match in the premier class and qualified early for the round of 16 with a 5-2 win against the Portuguese.

"It was fun to watch the boys," said Nagelsmann.

It was “an incredibly good game” from his team, “actually our best”, he thought, but still “with minor flaws”.

"An unbelievable activity"

That means above all the two goals conceded.

But Nagelsmann overlooked them surprisingly generously, possibly also out of consideration for the slightly changed defense line.

Because two central defenders in Lucas Hernandez and Niklas Süle were canceled, Tanguy Nianzou made his Champions League debut and only made his second starting eleven this season.

However, it has already been discussed differently, how to defend it, said Nagelsmann and mainly meant the connection goal for 1: 2 by Morato (38th minute) after a free kick that did not match the assignment.

But also the counterattack after a bad pass by Marcel Sabitzer in midfield, which Darwin Nunez completed to 2: 4 (74th).

The coach returnees preferred to talk about what was happening on the other side, towards the Benfica goal.

The team showed that it was “unbelievable activity”, “very enthusiastic about playing” and “getting behind the chain at great speed”.

Driven by Joshua Kimmich, who seems to have cleared his head again after the vaccination debate, the Munich team barely gave the opponent a breather.

On the right, Kingsley Coman repeatedly fooled his opponent, preparing the 1-0 through Robert Lewandowski (26th) with a lot of clarity.

Serge Gnabry did not let himself be unsettled by a few unsuccessful actions at the beginning and finally scored with a hoe to make it 2-0 (32nd).

Leroy Sané initially missed a few great chances, but then volleyed the ball into the goal (48th).

The former Schalke player has been playing at a consistently high level for weeks, apart from the trophy debacle in Mönchengladbach, but the entire team was there.

After the whistles and screams from Bayern fans at the beginning of the season, he has now "found the switch," says Nagelsmann.

The coach does not want to overestimate his share in the national player's increase in form.

“Everyone asks what I've done to him, but it's not much, actually,” he claims.

Sané got a new position, half left instead of right, and gives the feeling that the coach likes him quite well.

“He's already done the rest himself,” says Nagelsmann.

And then there is Lewandowski, who scored his number two and three goals (61st / 84th) in the second half. It could have been four, but for once he allowed himself a miss from the penalty spot. Shortly before half-time there was a penalty after a handball by Lucas Verissimo, which the Pole admitted "simply shot the wrong way" straight into the arms of goalkeeper Odisseas Vlachodimos. With 81 goals in 100 Champions League games, Lewandowski even has better odds than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who are both far ahead of him in the top tier ranking. Messi had 77 goals in the first 100 games, Ronaldo only 64.

Bayern are not invulnerable, Benfica has shown that, but "when we get a goal, it motivates us to shoot even more," said Lewandowski.

That works mostly.

Anyone who marches through the preliminary round with such confidence will inevitably have to come to terms with being the favorites in the Champions League.

“There are a few other teams that are also quite good,” he says.

"But we are also part of it."