Julian Nagelsmann reveals Bayern Munich’s half-time reaction at Viktoria Köln

Bayern Munich head coach Julian Nagelsmann is rightly proud of his team’s display in their 5-0 DFB-Pokal victory against Viktoria Köln. It was an occasion for rotation for the Rekordmeister, with seven changes from last weekend’s squad that faced Gladbach in the Bundesliga, but the new guys were up to the task — even after a first half that was perhaps more hard-fought than expected.

“I’m very happy with the result and the way we played,” Nagelsmann said after the game, as captured by @iMiaSanMia. “Viktoria did very well defensively in the first 25 minutes. After that we did really well and scored nice goals.”

But Bayern, at 2-0 up, still had work to do. They might have been forgiven for assuming they could cruise the rest of the way against a third-division side, but Viktoria Köln had already fired one warning shot — a ball in the back of the net narrowly ruled offside in a match that did not feature VAR.

Encouragingly to Nagelsmann, the half-time dressing room reaction showed his new-look Bayern side had the right stuff.

“The fact that players come to me at half-time and tell me they absolutely want to play, is a very good sign and shows our team spirit,” the coach said (again via @iMiaSanMia). “It’s not always the case in a first round against a third division side.”

Bayern would step up the intensity in the second half, scoring three more goals without conceding and offering a chance for their rotational players to take part in a thoroughly professional job — one which they have fully taken, much to their coach’s delight.

“There’s an incredible feeling in the dressing room and on the pitch,” Nagelsmann declared.

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