Supercup title a reward for last season: Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann

Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann has paid tribute to predecessor Hansi Flick, after winning his first piece of silverware. The Bavarians defeated Borussia Dortmund 3-1 in the 2021 Supercup, on the back of a fine performance by Robert Lewandoski who scored a brace. Thomas Mueller further scored another goal to increase the advantage over their rivals, who got a consolation goal through Marco Reus. Lewandoski and Mueller are the top goal scorers in Supercup encounters, with seven and five goals respectively.

“I think we defended very well”

“I think we defended very well, especially in the first half. We thoroughly deserved to win. It’s not easy against Dortmund with the attacking power that they have. The title is reward for last season because we won the title. Not me, but Hansi Flick. The title belongs more to others than it does to me,” said Nagelsmann as quoted by Bundesliga’s official website.

Bayern have won the competition a record nine times in total. Dortmund have the next most Supercup triumphs with six. Winger Serge Gnabry highlighted the importance of the triumph, terming it as a sign to their rivals.

“It’s always important to win the first trophy. It’s a sign to Dortmund, who are one of our biggest rivals. It’s a long season, we’ve got to play them twice, but if they’d have beaten us, it’d have given them a boost, for sure. Keeping possession and controlling the game was key. Manu [Neuer] saved brilliantly from [Erling] Haaland to keep us in the game, but from then on we were the better team. The third goal was unlucky for them, but we deserved the win. It’s always a great feeling, even more so in front of fans today,” said Gnabry.

“Title win means a lot to me”

Lewandoski expressed his happiness following the triumph, terming it as a win that means a lot to the Polish attacker.

“It means a lot to me. It’s the next title win for us. It’s great for the fans to watch the game live. It’s great for the team. We can enjoy it,” he stated.

While English midfielder Jude Bellingham finished on the losing side, he chose to take the positives from the result.

“I was just looking forward to it, to be honest. Where else would you want to be than playing here against one of the best teams in the world, in front of the best fans in the Europe? We can take positives from this. The loss will give us a hunger going forward. We’re all gutted we couldn’t get our hands on the trophy, but we’ll use it to motivate us.”

“It was an unnecessary defeat”

Reus was however more critical of his team’s performance, terming it as an unnecessary defeat.

“It was an unnecessary defeat. Bayern had their chances, we knew they would. There was no faulting our energy levels and passion, but titles have a habit of ending up at Bayern,” stated the German attacker.

Nagelsmann-led Bayern Munich were recently held to a draw in the opening gameweek of the Bundesliga by Borussia Monchengladbach, who have taken more points off the Bavarians in the last 10 years than any other side.