20 March 2023 , 14:18
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Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic publicly rounded on their club's players following a dire defeat by Bayer Leverkusen.
It has been a seriously disappointing domestic campaign for Nagelsmann's men and they find themselves one point behind Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga title race. Two second-half penalties from Exequiel Palacios were their downfall against Leverkusen on Sunday evening despite Joshua Kimmich giving Bayern the lead before the interval.
It was only their third defeat of the Bundesliga season, but seven draws have allowed Dortmund to pull ahead. Nagelsmann is highly-regarded in coaching circles but he has failed to impress since replacing Hansi Flick nearly two years ago.
Bayern are at risk of failing to win the Bundesliga title for the first time since 2012. With his players struggling to perform, Nagelsmann has launched an extraordinary blast of their energy and desire to win.
"Except for the last 10 minutes, we were the worse team. There was little power on the field, we didn't play well, so we deserved to lose. We had that again and again. It had gotten better in the last few weeks, this pairing of emotion and quality," he fumed.
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"Today, we were lazy. Defensively and offensively, some players had a zero per cent [work] rate. We were really weak in our own game presentation. Leverkusen’s win was deserved. We didn’t have enough power out there.
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Bayern Munich's title hopes were hit by a serious blow as they lost to Bayer Leverkusen (INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images)"We’d actually taken good steps forward in recent weeks in terms of power, quality and emotion. But today, we won too few challenges. It just wasn’t good enough today. We did a lot on our own. A lot of pressing by ourselves, a lot of walking by ourselves.
"Today, we were pretty sluggish overall. We won very few duels up front, but also in defence. We have to win against Dortmund. If we don’t - or in worst case we lose - then it will be difficult to win the title, considering the current form of Dortmund."
Bayern will have to seriously improve their performances when the Bundesliga returns from the international break. The words of Salihamidzic will be ringing loudly in their ears, with the former Bayern star left unimpressed by their display on Sunday.
"That wasn't what Bayern Munich means. We missed everything. We let ourselves be overrun by a team that was still playing on Thursday. Bayer was better in every respect," he raged. I've rarely experienced so little drive, so little mentality, so little duel, so little assertiveness.
"This team is so good when they have a mentality from the start and go 100 per cent, but just as bad when they don't do it and think that they can do everything with [their] quality. We were inferior in all areas. Confidence or not, we have to bring [our] mentality and greed to the pitch. This is a championship [race]."
Bayern face a top-of-the-table clash with Dortmund in their first game back after the international break. If they lose that, they will be four points behind the Black and Yellow with nine matches remaining.