Pep draws flak for Mueller bench move
Print Edition
PEP Guardiola’s decision to leave Germany striker Thomas Mueller on the bench for Wednesday’s 0-1 defeat at Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal was roundly criticized by German media yesterday.
“Super solo from Atletico! Poor selection from Pep”, read the headline on Bild’s front page, questioning why the Bayern coach began without Mueller, “his best scorer away from home in the Champions League”, or French winger Franck Ribery.
Kicker magazine said it was “risky and wrong” to overlook Mueller, “not only his second leading scorer but also a leader” on the pitch, with the German having scored 31 goals this season, including eight in Europe.
It also lamented Ribery’s omission from the starting line-up, because the Frenchman “is shining again after a long absence” and could have been “the man for the occasion” in the “supercharged atmosphere of the Vicente Calderon”.
“Pep Guardiola’s risky plan didn’t work,” was the headline on the online edition of daily Die Welt, for whom the exclusion of Mueller and Ribery was like “an own goal” for Bayern in Madrid.
Asked after the game, Guardiola justified his team selection, saying: “I wanted a left-footed player on the left and a right-footed player on the right and to have an extra midfielder.”
Ribery and Mueller were introduced as second-half substitutes for Kingsley Coman and Thiago Alcantara.
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