Julian Nagelsmann relatively pleased with Bayern Munich’s performance in 1-1 draw with RB Salzburg

Bayern Munich didn’t entirely shake off their rust from the 4-2 loss at VfL Bochum with their 1-1 draw against RB Salzburg in the Champions League. Julian Nagelsmann changed his starting lineup from the one that faltered at the Ruhrstadion, but still made the decision to start Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman, Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski together and slotted in Corentin Tolisso, taking Dayot Upamecano out of the back line.

Noah Okafor was forced off early with an injury and it was his direct replacement, Chukwubuike Adamu, that broke the deadlock for Salzburg in the 21st minute after a slight whiff from Benjamin Pavard. Coman rescued a draw for Bayern in the 90th minute with his goal and now it’s all to play for in the second leg at the Allianz Arena on March 8th.

Speaking after the match, Nagelsmann said that he was actually pleased with some of the things he saw, particularly in the second half when he was asked whether he noticed significant improvements from the Bochum loss. “Yes, then again in the second half. The first one wasn’t like Bochum, but it was also very error-prone. The goal that was conceded was actually relatively easy to defend. It was a balancing act in the second half because we defended offensively,” he explained (Tz). Bayern had the lion’s share of their chances in the second half and had it not been for Pavard failing to make contact with the ball in the buildup to Adamu’s goal, Bayern could’ve left Salzburg with a win instead of a draw.

Coman was arguably one of Bayern’ most lively attacking threats in the second half, and Nagelsmann certainly took notice. It was his last gap goal that rescued the draw for Bayern and roughly 18 minutes before that strike, he had a chance saved by Philipp Köhn when Lewandowski was lurking on the edge of the six yard box. Overall, Nagelsmann was pleased, individually with Coman’s performance on the night. “He was really good there (goal sequence)! He can even cross to Lewy once, so we still have a great chance. Great performance from him,” he lauded.

There was also a decision shortly before the full time whistle that left Nagelsmann very irritated. Kohn had come off of his line to punch a cross clear and Muller was ruled to have fouled him in the process. For that particular sequence, Nagelsmann didn’t agree that it was a foul and felt that play should’ve continued since it presented a potential scoring situation for Sane and said that VAR could’ve reviewed the pay afterwards. “The referee tells me that was a wrong whistle! So I ask why we have described this VAR. You let it continue, then see if Leroy shoots the ball into a goal that is only occupied by a field player — and if it was a foul, you take the goal back. I don’t understand why we allow offside positions to continue for 28 minutes and then whistle. You could have waited here! That was a 100% chance to score. An incredibly bad decision,” he passionately urged.

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