Bayern Munich will face RB Leizpig on Saturday (2:30 p.m.) in the German Super Cup, in their first official match since the departure of Robert Lewandowski, although they will have Senegalese Sadio Mané in attack.
Source: AFP
Julian Nagelsmann’s team, who won a tenth consecutive Bundesliga title last season, with 35 goals from Lewandowski, have experienced a busy ‘mercato’.
Mané, chosen as the best African player of the year, arrived from Liverpool after six years with the ‘Reds’, while Dutch central defender Matthijs de Ligt joined the Bavarian giant from Juventus for 67 million euros (68.2 million of dollars).
“We realize that Mané is a true professional. He has trained thoroughly from the beginning, physically very committed. Before the game you can see how he raises the tension, he is very active in training ”, praised Nagelsmann, who was Leipzig coach between 2019 and 2021.
“I am convinced that he will play a very good game”, he added, hoping to see his players sending “a small signal” to the rivals.
Former Ajax players Noussair Mazraoui and Ryan Gravenberch also signed for Bayern, while teenager Mathys Tel left French side Rennes for the Allianz Arena as a possible long-term replacement for Lewandowski.
– Without Lewandowski… but with Mané –
The Pole went to Barcelona after scoring 344 goals with Bayern, the club’s second top scorer behind Gerd Müller.
“They no longer have their classic striker, who guaranteed them 40 goals per season,” Leipzig’s Slovenian midfielder Kevin Kampl estimated for the specialized German portal Ran, who knows that Nagelsmann, “a tactical fox”, will find a solution.
The match will see a stellar duel between the best player in the German championship last season, Christopher Nkunku, and former Anfield idol Sadio Mané.
The Super Cup, the first title of the season -or the last of the previous year-, has offered in Germany a repeated clash between Bayern and Borussia Dortmund in recent years. Eight times in the last ten editions.
This year, a symbol of Leipzig’s growth in German football, will see an unprecedented duel between the Munich players, winners of a tenth consecutive Bundesliga, and Leipzig, created in 2009 by the Red Bull beverage group and champion of their first major tournament , the German Cup, just two months ago.
“It is an important game, because there is a title and because it is also the opportunity to leave a mark”, Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann estimated this Friday at a press conference, while the Bavarians will face another title contender next week league, Eintracht Frankfurt, at the opening of the Bundesliga. Without Lewandowski… but with Mané.
