MADRID, 5 Apr. (SportsFinding) –
The coach of Bayern Munich, Julian Nagelsmann, considers that Villarreal, whom they face this Wednesday in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, will play the duel at the Estadio de la Cerámica “quite liberated”. since their “priority” is LaLiga Santander and they will not have as much “pressure” as the Germans, “favorites” in the tie.
“Villarreal have a coach who has won a lot, especially at international level. It is a team with a lot of experience, and we will have to see how to hurt them. However, I am confident that we will achieve it,” he declared at a press conference, where he stated which will perform “few” rotations, if any.
In addition, the German coach does not reject the category of “favorites” in the tie, although he believes that the fact that the ‘Champions’ is not the first goal of the Castellón team relieves them of pressure. “It’s not a problem to be favourites. If you listen to Emery’s words, the Champions League is something like a bonus for him,” he said.
“Their priority is LaLiga; they are seventh and they lost to Levante. They know they have to qualify for Europe next season and they cannot assume that they will win the ‘Champions’. I think they will be quite liberated playing against us. They will not have the pressure that we will have us, but my players can handle that because we have to live up to our role (as favourites),” he explained.
He also stressed that the yellow box is “a good team that can play many systems.” “They are a team that takes risks at the start, they seek to recover up front, it is difficult to break their defense, but I am optimistic and I think we can win this match”, he explained.
Regarding the form of Alphonso Davies, who returns to action after suffering myocarditis as a result of COVID-19, he explained that he could play, even from the start. “Davis is back with us and his tests are positive. I have the idea that he starts, I have to talk it over with my team,” he said.
In another order of things, Nagelsmann criticized Freiburg for having appealed the result of their defeat (4-1) on the last day of the Bundesliga, a game in which the Bavarians played for a few seconds with 12 players. “From a personal point of view, I can’t understand what Freiburg is doing because they didn’t score two goals in 18 seconds, not even one,” he said.
“I personally wouldn’t have done it, because I don’t think a third party error should be used to possibly get points because of pressure from fans or sponsors. I don’t know if you can pat yourself on the back if you play in Europe for three points that you haven’t won on the pitch, I wouldn’t be happy. In my case, I would have told the club that we shouldn’t appeal,” he concluded.