Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann spoke to Italian journalist Gianluca DiMarzio and admitted that Paris Saint-Germain is the type of team that can make its opposition feel a little, well, uneasy.
Still, Nagelsmann says his team will not just sit back and defend in Wednesday’s Champions League match.
“It’s normal for players and staff to be nervous. It will be essential to play a great game. We’ll try to do our best to win. We won’t just think of defending, then we’ll see what happens. We hope we’ll be lucky and win this game, too,” Nagelsmann said (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “(Lionel) Messi and (Kylian) Mbappé are one of the best duos in the world. It’s not easy to defend them. Mbappé looks for deep runs behind the defensive line, while Messi tries to pass the ball to him. They are very quick in their movements, play one-two’s and look for each other.”
Nagelsmann, however, also cautioned that PSG it not a two-man team.
“In addition, there are also the players around them. It won’t be easy but we have a good idea of how to contain Messi and control the spaces better than we did in the last 20 minutes in Paris. Luckily, we also have a great goalkeeper,” said Nagelsmann.
That goalkeeper — Yann Sommer — could hold the key on whether or not Bayern Munich survives PSG and advances to the next round of the Champions League.