Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann understands the importance of Sunday’s match against Union Berlin.
“I’m expecting a top game. Union had a tough game in Europa League yesterday. They always bring their football onto the pitch, it’s designed for counterattacks. They always make it uncomfortable for the opponent, you don’t get much space against them,” Nagelsmann said (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “The boys trained very well, with a lot of commitment. If we go into the games with the same enthusiasm and commitment, that will very likely lead us to success.”
Nagelsmann has to make some extremely tough lineup decisions for this match, but one area that likely should not be so tough to determine is the center-back situation. With Dayot Upamecano, Bayern Munich is looking at a back four featuring Matthijs de Ligt and Benjamin Pavard working as center-backs, right?
Right?
Maybe not.
“It’s a possibility that (De Ligt and Daley Blind) play together. Daley can give us a lot of options as a build-up player. Matthijs has a lot of character, he loves to defend. Daley has outstanding footballing qualities. We will often see them together on the pitch,” Nagelsmann said.
As for the rest of the squad Thomas Müller is set with a spot in the starting XI, but Sadio Mané is not ready for a full 90 minutes just yet.
“Thomas is a very experienced player, he was told why the decision (against Gladbach) was made. I spoke to him for a long time, of course he was not happy. But he’s very professional. He will start on Sunday. He’s a very important player,” Nagelsmann said. “Upa is suspended. (Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting) had a bit of a neck problem, (Kingsley Coman) trained again today. It’s looking good overall. Sadio Mané won’t start, but is an alternative that we are very happy about. Regarding (Noussair) Mazraoui, it’s still a bit early, maybe next week.”