After convincingly completing the cup job, Julian Nagelsmann smiled across his face at the thought of the still open item on the to-do list.
In the three and a half weeks until the World Cup break, FC Bayern want to top the table in the Bundesliga after the round of 16 tickets purchased in the cup competition and Champions League.
"We played a great game against Freiburg, we now have to play a great game in Hoffenheim and then see what Union does before the World Cup breaks," said the Munich coach. "It's important that we're definitely - and we'll give everything for that - on matchday 34 again in first place."
Rather sooner than on May 27, 2023, the Munich team would like to take first place again in the league classification, in which the gap to the amazingly stable 1. FC Union Berlin is four points.
"Doing Our Homework"
"We have to do our homework for that. We'll go into the games week after week with a lot of motivation and try to put things right in football in Germany," said international Leon Goretzka of the urgent work assignment for the second-placed player. There are seven games ahead of the World Cup (November 20 to December 18), five of them in the Bundesliga.
The cup, in which the round of 16 will be drawn on Sunday, will not continue until the end of January. Unlike in two depressing seasons with second-round embarrassment, Bayern are allowed to participate again this year thanks to "Mr. Pokal" Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and the 5-2 win over FC Augsburg in the round of 16 teams.
"Of course our goal is to reach the final and win the cup. That's FC Bayern's goal," said Choupo-Moting. The 33-year-old contributed two goals and an assist at the end of the cup sadness.
In four games in the cup for Bayern, Choupo-Moting scored eight goals - mostly against lower-league opponents. In terms of numbers, this is reminiscent of impressive statistics à la Robert Lewandowski, whose move to FC Barcelona at Munich, despite many goals, regularly raised the question of who to play in the center of the attack.
Choupo-Moting convinces (national)
Now it seems as if Munich's Choupo-Moting, who was promoted to the starting lineup in the 5-0 win against Freiburg, found the new permanent solution as number 9 in passing. But what works perfectly against the Bundesliga competition does not have to be the blueprint for the decisive games in Europe.
"He's doing really well right now. But let's see if he can do it in the Champions League against the big opponents," said FCA striker Florian Niederlechner.
Nagelsmann, who reacted in a bad mood to the striker's question a month ago after the 0-1 draw in Augsburg with "It doesn't matter what I answer", Choupo-Moting's recent mood lifters were also good.
"He did very well and we're glad he's in our squad," said the coach. It is unclear whether Choupo-Moting will play alongside the recovered Thomas Müller in Hoffenheim on Saturday or whether he will have to go to the bench for him.
Just like the question of how long Choupo-Moting, who moved to Munich from the Neymar and Mbappé Club Paris Saint-Germain in autumn 2020, will still be part of the Bayern squad. The long-time Cameroon international's contract expires at the end of the season.
"We're going to let the Choupo play a bit now. He's doing it very well," said sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic about the 34-year-old at the end of the contract. "We know what we have in him. He also knows what he has in us. He does it very well."
