Bayern Munich bosses unhappy with insults lodged at Julian Nagelsmann by ultras

Per a new report from Bild, Bayern Munich’s bosses are unhappy with the insults that were lodged in the direction of Julian Nagelsmann from a section of ultras during the 2-2 draw with Ajax at the Allianz Arena.

During the friendly, a portion of the ultras that were in attendance at the limited capacity event chanted insulting phrases toward Nagelsmann, referencing his past connections with 1860 Munich from his youth playing career.

The group of ultras were from “Munich’s Red Pride” and were sat behind a banner that read such, next to which was the 1860 Munich logo in crosshairs. Specifically, in addition to right after kickoff, the insulting chants were shouted at minute 29 and 46, respectively. After the match, Nagelsmann was asked whether or not he was aware of the chants during the friendly, and he said the he heard them loud and clear. He mentioned that they were the loudest group in the stadium, but that he isn’t bothered to get sucked into the rivalry. Instead, he said he stands for tolerance and reconciled that you just can’t make everyone happy in life.

Specifically, Nagelsmanna spent seven years playing for TSV 1860 Munich in his youth career, spanning from 2002-2010. Despite his time spent with Bayern’s bitter rivals, Nagelsmann has been very vocal about the fact that he’s been a childhood Bayern fan, and even slept on Bayern bed sheets as a kid. He’s from Landsberg am Lech and has become the first Bavarian manager of Bayern since Franz Beckenbauer, who managed the club from winter 1993 until the summer of 1994 and then a brief stint in the spring of 1996.

Whistles from inside the stadium during the friendly and abuse on social media also brought Joshua Zirkzee to delete his Instagram account entirely after his open-goal miss just before halftime of the friendly. He was clearly distraught after the fact, and in the moment, probably had no idea that the defender was rapidly closing him down. Still, the whistles from the fans, which included the ultras, did not make matters any better, especially since it was only a friendly. It’s (arguably) safe to assume Zirkzee would’ve showed more urgency in a competitive fixture.

Parallels have been drawn from Nagelsmann’s situation to when Manuel Neuer first joined Bayern from Schalke 04 back in 2011. When he first joined, some Bayern fans were unhappy with the fact that the club had signed a keeper from Schalke and banners were brandished that read “Koan Neuer,” but the jeers started to dissipate, especially after his heroics in the 2012 Champions League semifinals against Real Madrid. Of course, Bayern lost the final that year to Chelsea at the Allianz Arena, but the rest is history for Neuer, securing the treble under Jupp Heynckes the season after. Hopefully for Nagelsmann, success can bring about an end to the pockets of fans that choose to cling on the the age-old Munich rivalry.