Before returning to the France team, where he is now an indisputable starter, Dayot Upamecano is once again a substitute with Bayern. The central defender has not started a match for a month. Annoying.
Excluded twice in four days with Bayern, on February 14 and 18, in the Champions League against Lazio then in the Bundesliga in Bochum, Dayot Upamecano missed the round of 16 second leg of the European Cup and a championship match. Since then, the French international has lost his place in Thomas Thuchel’s eleven. Upamecano plays a third match this Saturday as a substitute!
For the German champion’s trip to Darmstadt (3:30 p.m.), Matthijs de Ligt and Eric Dier are once again associated in the central hinge, with Kim Min-jae also starting on the bench. These choices are not insignificant two weeks before a Klassiker against Borussia Dortmund and three and a half weeks before the LDC quarter-final first leg against Arsenal, on April 9 at the Emirates Stadium.
Konaté and Upamecano threatened?
At least, Upamecano is not too tired by the sequence of matches before returning to the French team, Monday in Clairefontaine, for two preparation meetings against Germany and Chile, on March 23 and 26, at three months of the Euro. Despite the situation of the 25-year-old from Munich, Didier Deschamps should keep him in his central defense with Ibrahima Konaté. This is the solid hinge installed a year ago, the day after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“La Dèche” can however take the opportunity to try other combinations in central defense, with William Saliba, excellent with Arsenal since last season, Lucas Hernandez, now used in the center at PSG, and even Benjamin Pavard, solid in the position right-axis defender at Inter. In this sector, the coach made a clear decision by leaving aside Axel Disasi and Jean-Clair Todibo, present at the last meeting.
