Bayern – Villarreal: Waiting for the host to come upstream

Julian Nagelsmann admits his team played badly and was lucky to only lose by a goal difference in Spain. Those are not humble words, because Bayern Need to improve many stages compared to the first turn, if you want to reverse the situation. However, as the leading candidate for the championship, plus a wealth of experience in the continental arena, “Gray Lobster” is expected to overcome the pressure thanks to the fulcrum at home.

Bayern have won five of the last six home games in all competitions. It has been more than three years since the last time they failed to score at least two goals at the Allianz Arena, in the framework of the Champions League. Bayern once again Villarreal in the 2011-2012 Champions League and won 3-1. However, Nagelsmann’s teachers and students are not in good shape because after losing to Villarreal, they only won Augsburg 1-0 in the Bundesliga over the weekend thanks to Robert Lewandowski’s 82nd-minute penalty.

“We couldn’t let Villarreal have time to catch up with the game. Bayern needed to show the image of an annoying opponent. However, we shouldn’t spend a lot of time talking about this, we need to show it. on the field,” Nagelsmann said at the pre-match press conference. “We made too many mistakes in the first leg. And Villarreal made one mistake, it was for us to survive. Bayern have to punish the opponent for that.”

Although only seventh in La Liga, Villarreal has won the last three away matches in the Champions League, scoring 10 goals. Among them is a 3-0 victory over Juventus in the second leg of the 1/8 round. Last weekend, “Golden Submarine” drew Bilbao 1-1 in La Liga. But Unai Emery changed all 11 positions compared to the victory over Bayern to preserve forces for the trip to Germany.

Due to a loss in La Liga, Villarreal has no choice but to win the Champions League if they want to participate in this playground next year. Emery’s teachers and students were motivated to make history because the “Golden Submarine” only reached the Champions League semi-finals once in the 2005-2006 season, before losing to Arsenal.

On the first turn, Villarreal has well exploited the space between Bayern’s center-back and full-back. Their only goal, attributed to Arnaut Danjuma, also came from this finger. The initiative of the “Yellow Submarine” many times made Bayern confused and even an experienced goalkeeper like Manuel Neuer made a mistake when he passed Gerard Moreno’s foot. If they take advantage of the better opportunity, Villarreal can even win by more than one goal. However, kicking at Bayern will be a different problem, requiring a more flexible strategy from Emery.

“We need to show Bayern great respect. It’s going to be a very difficult game and Villarreal needs to know how to respond. We know Bayern often score a lot of goals at home. They respect us too, but Bayern know that if they play to the best of their ability, they will be the top team in this match. Bayern are usually stronger and more confident when playing at home,” Emery commented.

Bayern will not have Corentin Tolisso and Eric Choupo-Moting while Bouna Sarr’s ability to play is still open. However, the home team welcomes the return of Alphonso Davies and Lucas Hernandez. Niklas Sule has a mild flu but is still able to play. Leon Goretzka suffered a tear in his eyelid and bled in the first leg but still played against Augsburg.

Similarly, Villarreal did not lose too much in force when left-back Alberto Moreno was the only case absent. Striker Boulaye Dia suffered a muscle strain but could return. Juan Foyth suffered an injury at the end of the match against Athletic but the examination showed that the Argentine defender did not have a serious problem.

The winner of this quarter-final pairing will meet the winner of the Benfica – Liverpool pair in the semi-finals.

Vinh San