Champion Bayern Munich shone for an hour in the German soccer Supercup against cup winners RB Leipzig on Saturday. In the final phase, things got even tighter for the star squad around new signing Sadio Mané, but in the end the favorites, who were convincing with Marcel Sabitzer, were able to win 5: 3 away in their first competitive game without Robert Lewandowski.
By winning the Supercup again, Bayern sent the challengers a clear signal a week before the start of the Bundesliga. “It was a perfect night. My first game, my first title with this exciting club. I’m happy,” stressed Mané, who scored a goal straight away. “It was an exclamation point to start the season with a trophy,” said Serge Gnabry, one of Bayern’s other four goalscorers.
Salihamidzic zufrieden
“You could see that we’re extremely dangerous,” stated sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic, visibly satisfied. “We’re a bit harder to calculate,” said Coach Nagelsmann. And Gnabry reiterated the clear goals: “We want to defend the title in the Bundesliga, we want the title in the cup – and in the Champions League we want to get as far as possible.”
Jamal Musiala played brilliantly. The enthusiastic youngster made it 1-0 after less than 15 minutes and assisted in the goals of Mané and Benjamin Pavard before the break. Salihamidzic called the only 19-year-old Musiala “a feast for the eyes”. “He was already world class,” said Nagelsmann: “If he plays like he does today, he’s indispensable.”
The ÖFB team boss Ralf Rangnick, commenting as a TV expert, also awarded the title “world class” to Konrad Laimer from Salzburg, who is being courted by Bayern Munich. A change in the midfielder, who in his opinion is outstanding in the Leipzig collective, would be a real weakening for RB and at the same time a strengthening of the competitor from Munich, Rangnick pointed out.
But even without Laimer, the series champion will be difficult to bend in the new season. You’ve already seen signs that “we can play really good football,” said Salihamidzic, but of course there was still room for improvement. “It will take a few more weeks before we get a real rhythm.”
(APA)/Image: IMAGO