On Tuesday evening, Bayern said goodbye to the Champions League for the second time in a row in the quarter-finals. A year ago, the star ensemble from Paris St.Germain meant the last stop, this week Villarreal. “Looking at both games, the Spaniards deservedly progressed,” says the ex-Bayern star and today’s Blick expert Markus Babbel, “in the first leg in Spain Bayern was well served with the 0: 1, that would also have been 0: 3 or go 0:4…»
Villarreal totally ripped off and full of confidence
Of course there was a lot more criticism after the end against the “small” Villarreal than a year ago when they were eliminated against Neymar, Mbappé & Co. Babbel can understand it. “Against PSG you can also be eliminated as Bayern, they are an absolute top team. Villarreal is not the big name.” Nevertheless, the former Bayern star does not want to take out his two-handed sword and hit the Munich team. He prefers to list the reasons that led to the frustration. On the one hand there is the opponent. “Villarreal may not have the big names in the team, but the team is totally ripped off. There’s a lot of quality and self-confidence in there: last season they won the Europa League and have now knocked out Juventus in the round of 16…”
Nagelsmann expressed himself awkwardly
After the draw, coach Julian Nagelsmann expressed himself rather awkwardly when he said that Villarreal would be one of the small ones by name, says Babbel. “It doesn’t matter that he then warned about the opponent. The headlines were already made.”
In addition, there are currently too many disruptive fires around FC Bayern. “Lewandowski’s exchange flirt with Barcelona became public shortly before the Champions League game, the construction sites with players whose contracts should not be renewed were debated, and so on…”
Too little competition in the Bundesliga
But the people of Munich were not ready, Babbel continued. “Players like Kimmich, Müller, Sané or Gnabry are not one hundred percent, you could feel that.” What can easily be enough for the championship title in the Bundesliga is not enough in the Champions League.
The lack of competition in the Bundesliga is one of the reasons why Bayern failed, believes Babbel. “This season, Bayern is playing exceptionally well in some parts of the Bundesliga, but then there are always these dropouts. But when Bayern weakens, there is no other team that benefits from it. Whether Dortmund, Leipzig or Leverkusen, everyone is fighting with themselves. Nobody can put Bayern under serious pressure. » Not like Villarreal in the premier class.
–
