FC Bayern has chances for chances, but they can't win against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Because the outstanding Yann Sommer is in goal for the Bundesliga competitor. He even gets praise from his opponent for his performance. But he also looks confidently to the coming weeks.
After an intoxicating summer gala, Thomas Müller's hangover set in with a little delay. "The longer the game is over, the more dissatisfied I am," said the Bayern Munich star after the 1-1 (0-1) win over Borussia Mönchengladbach, with a serious expression: "We have to take a good look at ourselves when you're like that has a lot of chances to score. We didn't win so we have work to do."
Keeper Yann Sommer had almost driven the convincing record champions to despair with 19 (!) saves - a league best - in a total of 35 Bayern attempts. If Gladbach is Munich's feared opponent, then Sommer was the bogeyman personified.
Accordingly, Bayern's emotional state before the weeks of truth fluctuated between pride in the strong performance again and frustration at the usury of chances and the lost points. "We're happy with the way we played, but not with the result," said captain Manuel Neuer. Coach Julian Nagelsmann saw "the best game of the season, the only thing missing was the exploitation of opportunities". And sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić spoke of an "amazing game" in which FC Bayern "did almost everything well".
But only almost - which was primarily due to the super summer. Sports director Roland Virkus and coach Daniel Farke unanimously praised a "world-class performance". Alongside Neuer, the Swiss national goalkeeper is "the best goalkeeper in the league", emphasized Farke: "And if you want to score points in Munich, you need an outstanding keeper."
Even Bayern, who were only able to make up for Marcus Thuram's deficit (43rd) with the eye-catching Leroy Sané (83rd), were very impressed. You already know it, said Müller, "that he always does a particularly good job against us."
Sommer "kept incredibly well," said Salihamidžić, but added with a smile: "But we didn't drink that much target water either." The acclaimed summer remained composed after his exploits. "With so much work, you just get into a flow," said the 33-year-old succinctly, he was just happy "that I managed to do such a good job".
Too good for Bayern. But despite the first setback of the season, the people of Munich looked full of confidence towards the English weeks with the start on Wednesday in the DFB Cup at third division team Viktoria Köln, the top Bundesliga game next Saturday at Union Berlin and the start of the Champions League (September 7th ) at Inter Milan. "We are ready," emphasized Neuer.
He's looking forward to it "if we keep playing like this and take this energy with us," said Salihamidžić. The team is "hot, the energy impressive". Müller was also optimistic about the performance: "If we play like we did today, there won't be many opponents who will have a nice afternoon against us." For Farke, these Bavarians are currently "the best and hottest team in Europe". They just couldn't get past Yann Sommer.
