Julian Nagelsmann doesn't think Julian Nagelsmann needs to change much. "That's just how I am," was a key sentence of the 35-year-old at the end of his public break after the verbal derailment ("Pack") against the referee team after the extremely difficult defeat of FC Bayern Munich in Mönchengladbach. The behaviour of the master trainer had triggered a lot of head-shaking and excited debates.

Nagelsmann wants to remain an emotional coach in the stadium, also this Sunday (17.30 clock in the F.A.Z. live ticker for the Bundesliga and DAZN) in the exciting Bundesliga top game against the unexpected, but nevertheless extremely persistent title rivals Union Berlin. But, Nagelsmann announced: He wanted to "steer his feelings in other directions" in the future.

Once again, there is a special pressure situation at Bayern. After ten championship years in a row, they are seriously pressed in the Bundesliga at the start of the last third of the season by equal hunters such as Borussia Dortmund and the Iron from Berlin-Köpenick. And Nagelsmann lacks the sovereignty that distinguishes great Bayern coaches. However, he knows what is expected of a coach in Munich in a top game. "The formula at Bayern is as simple as it is complex: when you win, it's calm. If you don't win, there's no rest. So we should win against Union Berlin," Nagelsmann said on Friday.

"This is the perfect stage"

For the defense of first place, he relies on Thomas Müller (33), who knows pressure situations inside out as a native Bavarian. "Thomas will start on Sunday," announced Nagelsmann after "a long conversation" with the captain, whom he had sacrificed in the 2:3 in Gladbach after the early red card for the now suspended Dayot Upamecano. Müller was of course "not happy", but remains a "confidant" for him. As a joker, star striker Sadio Mané also returns to the squad, more than three months after the serious injury to the fibula head, which had deprived the Senegalese of the World Cup participation.

Nagelsmann suspects that things could also heat up against Union in the Allianz Arena. The amazement at the robust high-altitude flight of the Berliners does not stop. Coach Urs Fischer – as a coach virtually an alternative to the quick-tempered Nagelsmann – is also causing an international sensation with his team, which advanced to the knockout stages of the Europa League with a 3-1 win against Ajax Amsterdam. That cost a lot of energy, which should give Bayern an advantage. "It's about putting a direct competitor back at a distance," said Nagelsmann.

Bayern boss Oliver Kahn had tried this week to direct the focus from the coach to the Munich professionals, who have had problems with the delivery service in everyday league life since the beginning of the year. "Now the players have to show that they are Bayern Munich. And a game like the one against Union Berlin, a duel for the top of the table, is the perfect stage," said Kahn. Joshua Kimmich said after the defeat in Gladbach: "I am convinced that it will not take us off course."

Nagelsmann explained the fickleness of the Bayern stars in everyday league life after x championship titles with a comparison: "When you ride a roller coaster in the amusement park for the first time, it's very spectacular. It's fun the ninth time, but it's not as spectacular as the first time." And yet, in the past, the Munich professionals had always managed to do it in the end.

That would also be good for him if Nagelsmann wants to shape an era as coach in Munich. Titles are the currency for this, not pubertal behavior after defeats. "I'm annoyed that this is happening to me. I have realized the mistake," he said in the remorseful part of his remarks on Friday. The fact that his outburst in Gladbach may even have been one with calculation, the coach described as "complete nonsense". Rather, he emphasized: "It is not a conscious decision of mine to go to the attack department."