Lothar Matthäus surprised by Julian Nagelsmann’s criticism of Bayern Munich ahead of PSG clash

From Julian Nagelsmann’s point of view, he got exactly what Bayern Munich wanted and needed ahead of their colossal Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain, which was a Bundesliga win and clean sheet with their 3-0 triumph over VfL Bochum. It was far from Bayern’s strongest performance of the season, but the three points to keep them at the top of the table was the required confidence boost as they’re now on a three-match win streak across all competitions, stretching back to the 4-0 DFB-Pokal win over Mainz.

Despite Bayern winning handily over Bochum, Nagelsmann had told the press afterwards that he expects way more from his side, and that they needed to show vast improvements if they wanted to have any chance of bettering PSG in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie in Paris. “If we play like this against Paris, we don’t stand a chance. We don’t have a super flow now. We have to play an outstanding game in Paris,” Nagelsmann had said after the win over Bochum (via Tz).

Lothar Matthäus feels that Nagelsmann’s public criticism of the team’s Bochum performance wasn’t exactly the best look from the manager ahead of such a massive Champions League encounter.

“Julian could have done it a little more cleverly, waking up the players internally in the dressing room. I think that thing that Julian wanted to tell the players yesterday through the media was superfluous. The players know exactly what is going on in Paris on Tuesday,” the former Bayern and Germany midfielder argued (also via Tz). For this, he feels it all should’ve perhaps been kept behind close doors.

The very public scuffle between the club’s sacking of former goalkeeping Toni Tapalovic and Manuel Neuer’s response to it already added unwanted distractions off of the pitch ahead of PSG. Because of that, it’s all the more reason that Matthäus might’ve felt it would’ve been better for Nagelsmann to keep his comments to the players only, and not to the public during a press conference. Nagelsmann and Neuer have already reportedly met and talked things out face to face regarding the aforementioned issue, but the front office has decided to wait to have their talk with him until after PSG. With his potential punishment hanging in the balance until then, Matthäus didn’t feel the timing was right for Nagelsmann to publicly say Bayern needed to be way better, even if the manager’s sentiment was right.

Interested in a proper, in-depth look at the game? How should Bayern Munich line up, what tactics should the team use, and what kind of impact will this game have on the future of Julian Nagelsmann? We have all that and more in the latest episode of our podcast. Listen to it below or on Spotify.

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