Julian Nagelsmann lauds performances of Upamecano, Tolisso, Lewandowski in Bayern Munich’s DFL-Supercup win

Julian Nagelsmann marked his first competitive win as Bayern Munich manager with the 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in the DFL-Supercup. A brace from Robert Lewandowski and a goal from Thomas Müller was enough to deem Marco Reus’ 64th minute goal just a consolation. Both sides had their moments in front of goal and fair share of mistakes at the back, but Bayern were the better side on the night, and showed drastic improvements from their Bundesliga opener against Borussia Monchengladbach last Friday.

Speaking after the match, Nagelsmann highlighted a few of his players that he felt had very solid performances, though it was hard to say, really, that any Bayern player didn’t have a decent outing. Speaking to Sky and Sat. 1 after the match (via Tz), he had high praise for his center back pairing of Dayot Upamecano and Niklas Sule, who were both solid. “Niki (Süle) and Upa were incredibly stable in the back, that’s not easy against this offensive power. It was a step forward from both of them,” he lauded. Erling Haaland did have a few chances that forced action from Manuel Neuer, but on the balance, Bayern’s defense did well to contain him for most of the night.

It wouldn’t of been a typical Bayern win without Lewandowski’s name on the scoresheet and his brace made the difference. Lewandowski’s first goal was a finely taken header in the 41st minute, getting on the end of an in-swinging cross from Serge Gnabry at the far post and his second in the 74th minute as the ball fell right to him after an impressive sequence of pressing from Corentin Tolisso. In addition to his brace, Lewandowski also provided a clever flick assist to Muller for Bayern’s second goal. It was an important touch to lift the ball around Gregor Kobel and right to Müller.

While you can always expect goals and assists from Lewandowski, Nagelsmann was also pleased with the defensive work he saw from his number; “We all know that he can score goals. Today, he also worked and defended extremely well. The two goals he makes are really strong, but the goal he prepared was also very clever.” Albeit a tap-in from close range, Nagelsmann was pleased with Müller’s goal and expects more to come this season. “It was a classic Thomas Müller goal, he will score a few more goals this season,” he said.

Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images

In addition to collecting his first piece of silverware as Bayern manager, it was an added bonus for Nagelsmann to have Tolisso back in the lineup after recovering from a positive coronavirus case. He came on in the 73rd minute to replace Gnabry and made an almost immediate impact with his pressing of Manuel Akanji that created Lewandowski’s second goal, and Bayern’s third. “He trained really well, even if it was only two units. It is important that we apply pressure at the front. These are the simple goals, but the valuable ones,” Nagelsmann said of having his French midfielder back and the high press he provided for Lewandowski’s second goal.